Stripes

What are you doing to conserve and help our Earth?  Although it seems tough to do the big things (like hybrid cars and solar panels), even little things help make a difference.  To honor Earth Day, I’d like to share with you some of the ways ThePaintedTiger has gone ‘green’.

1.  Packaging.  Yep, I gotta send your stuff IN something.  As much as possible, I package your yarn & fiber in reusable ziplock bags.  If your order won’t fit in a ziplock, I recycle a bag that I receive the undyed yarn in.  I also prefer to ship in a box.  A box can be recycled, while Tyvek or plastic mailers cannot.  

2.  Production.  There are several ways I save energy while dyeing yarn and fiber.  I use just enough water, dye, and acid to achieve the colors desired.  I reuse my soaking and rinsing waters as much as possible, and often stay in the same color family for a dye session so I can reuse dyepots and brushes without excessive rinsing.  I heat full batches, and spin out full batches before drying.  I let the yarn/fiber air dry.

3. Other little things.  I source my undyed yarn and fiber from the USA so they don’t have to travel as far, and I buy in bulk to reduce packaging.  I buy recycled paper for  invoices and shipping labels.  I use Carrier Pickup when no one needs to go by the post office that day, and combine errands when we do.  I use yarn ties over again, and many of my dyepots are recycled jars or other containers.  Fibers odds and ends are collected for art yarn inclusion, or felted soap making.

My new contribution for Earth Day 2009 is my new little netbook computer that I am writing this message on.  It sips electricity, and is quite mobile.   What will be the electricity savings?  The desktop will be off most of the week (I’ll still need to do photo editing and accounting on there), as will the lightbulb for that dark corner of my basement. 

Thanks for letting me share!  Now I’m off to repot some of my houseplants, and see what has newly come up in my shade garden.