Recycle/Reuse/Upcycle

Three R's of CDs in the digital age: resell, reuse, recycle
by Ashley Cullins
April 07, 2011



Ashley Cullins/Medill

CDs can be used as easy, light-reflecting candleholders.

A cathode lamp is one of millions of ideas for projects made with used CDs.
Cullins -Etsy

"Kusudama is traditionally a Japanese art of paperfolding that results in a beautiful ball of flowers. This particular piece is a modern update of my own invention, utilizing a single hemisphere and repurposed CDs!" - Cybele
Cullins - Reckless

Ashley Cullins/Medill

Reckless Records sells used CDs starting at $1.99.
Related Links
CD Recycling Center of AmericaMRC Polymers, Inc.GreenDiskReckless RecordseHowEtsy - CybelesqueEtsy - Oddartist

CD sales slowed 12.8 percent from 326.2 million units in 2010 to 373.9 million in 2009, according to Billboard.com. Meanwhile digital track sales managed a one percent increase that same year.



Not everyone has given up on CDs. “I really like listening to an album from beginning to end, “ said Beth White, 30, a lawyer from Ravenswood. “My primary source of music is my iPod, but there are certain albums where I like to listen to the CD or the actual album.”



But what can digital music junkies do with their defunct disks? Reselling, reusing and recycling are all viable options.

Resell

Consumers can resell CDs in good condition to stores such as Reckless Records in Chicago. The store accepts all genres of music, but the disc must work and come in its case with the original artwork inserts.

Customers can bring in any volume of CDs and the staff will look at the items individually to determine a value on the spot, said Robbie Hamilton, floor manager of the store at 26 E. Madison St. The customer can choose to accept cash or store credit worth an additional 20 percent. So if Reckless decides your Backstreet Boys CD is worth $5, you can choose $5 cash or $6 store credit.



Hamilton said the digital revolution has hit sales of CDs harder than DVDs, while the business overall has remained consistent. The collection at Reckless includes not only new and used CDs, but also vinyl records, DVDs and even cassette tapes.

Reuse

CDs can be reincarnated into simple drink coasters and candleholders, or incredibly creative artwork and furniture. A quick Google search for “uses for CDs” generates about 80 million results.



Cybele, a single-named artist from Las Vegas, makes Japanese-style folded paper flowers out of maps and attaches them to CDs to create unique art. She has been making and selling them on Etsy.com for several months. “I saved all the AOL discs that our mailman used to deliver all the time,” she said. “I also use them for my Miniachair Tableaux.”

She recommended fellow Etsy user “oddartist” who melts down CDs and other media to create bowls and jewelry.



Lifehacker.com features a cathode lamp made from CDs. It’s “a mod bluish torch with which any geek would be proud to light his mother's basement,” according to the website.



EHow.com offers instructions for making driveway reflectors, sun-catchers, clocks, curtains and chandeliers.



Recycle



CDs and jewel cases aren’t generally accepted in community recycling programs, according to earth911.com. But consumers don’t have to choose between storing them indefinitely in a dusty attic and sending them to a landfill.



MRC Polymers Inc., 3535 W. 31st St., accepts "post-consumer" plastics, including CDs.



CD Recycling Centers of America in Salem, N.H., offers a mail-in option for consumers who can’t bring their used CDs to a local recycling center. The CDs, jewel cases and paper inserts must be separated and can be mailed in any quantity. There is no charge for the service, but the consumer pays shipping. The CDs are destroyed and new items are made from the recycled plastic resin.



GreenDisk considers CDs technotrash, along with VHS tapes, batteries, small electronics and hard drives, and also provides a recycling service for a fee. Consumers can mail in their used CDs and GreenDisk will erase the disks and rewrite and re-label them for redistribution. Fees are based on the content and weight of the items being recycled.



Next time you stub your toe on that box of long-unused CDs, consider reusing, reselling, or recycling them.




Featured Etsy Shops
Cyberlesque
Oddartist

Recycle/Reuse/Upcycle

The Blue cobalt dish was just completed. I turned a blue cobalt water bottle into a beautiful amazing dish. The dish is cleaned,sanitized,fused,slumped,etched and wire wrapped with beads. I LOVE it! Let me know what you think.

Toledo Art Treasury

Rock N' Roll Is Free

By Matthew Perpetua

March 29, 2011 1:45 PM ET

Ben Harper is taking the title of his new single "Rock N' Roll Is Free" very literally by giving the track away for a limited time. The sunny, upbeat rocker is the first taste from his new album Give Till It's Gone, which will hit stores on May 17th, but for now the song is, as Harper sings, "free if you want it."

 

NBCU and Etsy partner... Contest starts today!

NBCU, Etsy partner

Effort part of 'Green Is Universal' push

By Sam Thielman

For its "Green Is Universal" initiative, NBCUniversal is partnering with online handcrafted goods retailer Etsy to sponsor a recycled handmade goods contest, starting today, as a run-up to the conglom's Earth Week. For the competish, christened "Art of Reuse," do-it-yourselfers are tasked with creating new products from recycled material -- a popular pastime on Etsy. Judges will include Martha Stewart; Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford; and Andy Cohen.
Beth Colleton, VP of the Green initiative, said that environmentally friendly marketing continues to evolve. "The public is more savvy, so they're constantly pushing media outlets and companies for the latest and greatest," Colleton said. "Coming out of BP last year and the disaster in Japan this year, we've seen that headlines in the news make people want to dig deeper."
"Art of Reuse" is promoted online across the 8 million member Etsy community and NBCU's iVillage and on-air via NBCU's cable suite. The contest's top 10 entries will also appear on NBC's "Today" show during Earth Week, April 17-24. Submissions are open until April 11.

Contact Sam Thielman at news@variety.com

Earth Grrrl Crafts

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthGrrrlCrafts
25% off on all items to help pay for my cat's Emergency vet bill. It's up over $2,000 at this point, and may be higher before all is said and done. Checkout code Earth25 for 25% off. Everything on sale 25% off! Great deals!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EarthGrrrlCrafts

Stone Carving

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=69016&sitesection=ndnsubss&VID=23385963

Stone Carving Video
An extinct art form?

New Glass Product... Green Glass and the Lady bug

This Bird feeder is created out of a beautiful hand cut, green glass and hand cut red and black glass for the lady bug.It has yellow glass accents running through the piece. It sits on a 16" fabricated wrought iron stand. The glass it self is 6" in diameter and 4.5" deep.

Crystal Phan's Jewelry from Etsy featured in the News

Congratulations to yet another Etsy seller in the News! Great article in

Wilkes Barre Times....Paper Heroes


Crystals  ETSY SHOP:
 Crystal Phan's jewelry

The Baltimore Sun features Kristen Christy from Little Acorn Products

Congratulations to Kristen Christy from Little Acorn Products on Etsy. She was featured in The Baltimore sun!
Check her shop out her Birdhouses are beautiful. Great decor for children s rooms.

NEW! Glass Gifts

Both Projects from last week are finished! This is the Bird Feeder!

Bird feeder With wrought Iron Stand

Blue Fish Hanging from fishing pole.Suncatcher!

Fused Glass Fish close-up

Blue Bird Feeder

Here are pictures from the bird feeder I started last week. Its Nearly complete. I just have to add the stand! Love the Blue Glass! It turned out perfect.

New Glass Product!.......Fused Fish

The fish are finally finished. Remember I blogged about these fish a week ago. They were hand cut. Kiln fired.Here are before and after pictures.

Hand cut glass fish before the kiln!

10 hrs later...After the kiln!

 And finally the finished product:  

This suncatcher has a stainless steel chain to hang from.

It has 3 blue glass fish fused with fish hooks and red and white beads hanging by fishing line, from part of an up-cycled fishing pole! It can hang from a shepherds hook in the garden or in a window. It is 14" wide and 14" long + the chain.

New product...Etched Red poppy Fields

Red Poppy Fields! This square dish is 5.5" x 3" and tapers down. I draw,etch,and hand paint the Poppies on the bowl. The paint is kiln baked on making it permanent.The bowl can be used for just about anything,candle holder, use in the kitchen or to hold your rings.

Makes a cute gift! Fill it with their favorite little candies!

Mothers Day! Is May 8

Are you an artist or Craftsman? Handmade or hand assembled?

Is your work considered handmade or not? Are you an Artist or craftsman?
Hello everyone Im Jenny Reinhart.
Basically I need a break from the social networking!
I wanted to write an article addressing what seems to be two highly controversial topics among artists and craftsman on Etsy.
1) Are you an artist or a crafter/craftsman?
2) Is your product considered handmade or hand assembled and is there a difference?


I’ve been reading blogs, articles, and team threads on Etsy. I was a little surprised to see people putting down other crafters/artists because they felt their work should not be in the same category as their own due to the fact that they consider their work more 
handmade than another seller.

The thread that comes to mind was a person that has a jewelry shop on Etsy, and the seller complained that other sellers tagged their work as handmade instead of hand assembled. Which I completely get, except to outwardly put someone else down because their work isn’t quite what you want it to be, seems ridiculous.(and I do realize the importance of tagging)


If you don’t know the whole process of someone’s work you can’t really say it’s not handmade. I would have to say there are probably some people that throw some beads on a string and call it a handmade necklace. They put no effort into it, but then there are the people who care about their work and put time and effort into making themselves better at their craft. When you are new to a craft it takes time to learn about it and the range of things that can be created with that craft.


Example: My niece purchases beads and makes jewelry with it. She loves it. However evidently its not considered handmade because she doesn’t actually make the beads herself? That doesn’t seem right. Ive seen her sit down, come up with a plan, or design that she wants, and put that plan into action. There is an actual process to it. (She does not sell on Etsy.) 

I create fused glass and etched glass. Most people consider my fused glass handmade and my etched glass not handmade. Its funny to me because I spend more hands on time drawing, cutting and cold working my designs for etched glass work than I do to create a fused glass bowl. 

To me the fused glass I create is transformed in the kiln and even though I hand cut the pieces the biggest transformation happens in the kiln. Should it be called kiln made? My etched glass starts out as a drawing by me, cut and then etched. Its my hands on all the time.
Everything we create with our hands, passionately and with love should be considered as handmade. I realize not everyone is a master at their craft (myself included) but the process of getting there is wonderful and we should be encouraging people to develop their craft not putting them down. Believe me customers are aware of better quality merchandise and price differences. If your craft has  special processes add it to the description. Customers will notice. Don’t be upset people tagging their work as handmade let the customer decide for themselves. If you see someone selling a piece of jewelry as a beginner, offer up suggestions to create their own beads, charms or whatever. Are we afraid of a little competition?


As far as the difference between artist and crafter, Im not positive on this one but for me, I do not consider myself an artist however family and friends have called me one and I let them. I love it. I wouldn’t even consider myself a craftsman. I think to be an artist or craftsman you would have to master your craft. My craft personally is still about growing, changing, and learning new things. So what are we then?
We are creative minds learning and growing from our crafts in hopes of someday mastering the art!
Good Luck to everyone! Enjoy creating!
“Live Life Simply and Creatively”

Rockford woman turns trash into art - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader

Rockford woman turns trash into art - WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader



"Lori's Recycled Chic"
Another Great Etsy shop featured in the news!

By: Rebecca Klopf

ROCKFORD (WREX) - You might think of things like empty pop bottles and old window panes as trash, but one women is turning them into art. The owner of "Lori's Recycled Chic" says if its an odd shape or has an interesting design, she can remake it into a piece you'll want in your home.

"I'm the original dumpster diver," says Lori Hart-Piper.

She started creating her work 13 years ago when she saw a bunch of old window's sitting on her neighbor's curb. She decided to paint them and turn them into Reverse Glass Paintings. From there, she started heading to thrift stores flea markets and garage sales to find other items she could turn into art.

But after awhile Hart-Piper stopped going to shows and selling her work, until last year. She was asked to bring some pieces to Rockford's City Market and she said it made her want to work again.

"That was an incredible experience. It went really well. I wasn't sure if that was the right venue for my art but there were a lot of artisans there," says Hart-Piper.

Now she creates things like mirrors from old TVs, photo frames from Polaroid cameras and clocks from old records. She even uses banana holders or old candle sticks for stands and old clocks for inside of the time pieces. But if that isn't green enough, she also uses old plastic bottles, metal and newspapers to make flower lamps.

"There's a lot of mass produced, lots of the same type of thing. And if you take something old that would that would end up in the garbage and make something new and beautiful out of it, you are not only keeping it out of the landfill but you have a unique, one of a kind piece that nobody else has," says Lori Hart-Piper.

You can see more of Hart-Piper's work at spring "ArtScene" next month. You can also find her on facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/LORIS-RECYCLED-CHIC or on Etsy.com under the shop name "Color Me Funky." The link for the Etsy page is on the side of this page.



Its so inspiring to read so many success stories.