Domino's National Upcycling Collaboration

We are always pushing the team concept as part of our mission to spread upcycling through our strength in numbers~ but occasionally it is the outstanding singular effort of one member that demands our recognition and gratitude for the individual's achievements.

Liz Ohsiek deserves that and more~ And we are so incredibly proud to call her a member of Upcyclers! 

Domino's recently changed their marketing strategy including a newly designed logo~ and in an effort to reduce waste decided to UPCYCLE their stock bearing the previous logo. Liz told us all about it in a recent blog post:

"I don’t usually like to talk about myself. At least not important stuff. I’ll bore my friends with the minutia of life (what I had for breakfast, what craft my kids are working on, how many loads of laundry I folded, blah blah blah) but when it comes to my own shop and business, I don’t typically share. Maybe I just don’t think anyone really cares — and I don’t like to sound braggy (especially when I don’t have tons of faith in myself). I know, I have issues.

BUT – right now, I want to tell you about a really exciting project that I’m participating in. I’m going to toot my own horn for a minute. Ah-OOO-gah!!

Several months ago, Domino’s Pizza contacted lil’ ol’ me (ME!!) to tell me about their Second Hand Logos project. They recently changed their logo, and rather than throw away all of the old ones, they’ve asked independent craftsmen and artists like me to upcycle the old stock into new creations. I am one of 10 artists nationwide to participate in this amazing initiative.

The project was unveiled on June 17, and since then there has been a bit of online buzz including a Yahoo! Finance article that used my photograph and mentioned my name. (You can check that out here. My 15 minutes of fame! There are also articles that use my product photos here, here and here).

Domino’s sent me some employee t-shirts, pizza boxes, and food wrappers all displaying the old logo. I made them into scarves, notebooks, and bowls."

Making Domino’s Scarves from old stock t-shirts

Pizza Box Notebooks

Paper Bowls

These items are available for purchase in Liz's Etsy shop! And you can see all of the talented artists and their creations at www.SecondHandLogos.com

It is fantastic to see the upcycling movement recognized by a global corporation like Domino's. Collaborative efforts like this inspire our team to continue creating art, crafts and practical goods from what the world once considered "TRASH"! Perhaps one day we will look back and wonder why we abandoned the centuries' old tradition of 'using it up and wearing it out' for what has become a largely, throwaway society. Until then, we thank Liz Ohsiek for dedicating her talent to Upcycling and for being a member of Upcyclers!


*Editor's Note~ Read Liz's opinion about "What is Upcycling?"

 

Countdown to Christmas Giveaway Extravaganza~ Day 3!

You still have time to enter our first two Countdown to Christmas Giveaways~ and now you have another chance to enter and win our prize for Day 3!

Since today is usually Sustainable Sundays and Bee from The Wooden Bee so kindly features our members, we will be featuring her instead! And she is generously offering a set of her DIY wine cork coasters kits! I was lucky enough to win a set on her blog, and I loved them. They are easy to put together in their well-crafted wooden frames and a wonderful way to reuse wine corks!

Bee and her husband hated to see the waste of precious scraps of beautiful wood from maple, cherry and other species and decided to do something about it~ they partnered with a cabinet company and began upcycling these scraps into beautiful one-of-a-kind, handmade creations for your home. The Wooden Bee set up shop on Etsy, the perfect venue for artfully made goods, and have been successfully selling their wooden decor and wine cork kits for over a year now!

Upcyclers, our Etsy team whose members Love 2 Upcycle, are proud to have Bee as one of our leaders and value her efforts to further the upcycling movement. Her articles on "Greener Shopping" are packed with valuable and well researched information for every consumer. She also posts upcycled tutorials and, as mentioned earlier, her weekly series, Sustainable Sundays, which have become one of our most popular features. Her constant guidance and support on our Etsy discussion threads are a source of encouragement for everyone!

The Wooden Bee has several creations made especially for the holidays and others that reflect their love for family and the home! Here's a little peek~ be sure to check out their other products too!

It's simple to enter our Giveaways and you can enter each one if you'd like!

First, be sure you are a follower of this blog, Love 2 Upcycle~ not a follower? Just look to the left and click. Voila! You are a follower. But you haven't entered yet.

Now, you can choose 4 of the following ways to enter, up to 4 times!

1. Check out The Wooden Bee favorite her shop and add them to your circle.
Then tell us here in a comment about your Favorite item in her shop!
2. Follow Bee's blog: The Wooden Bee
3. Become a fan of The Wooden Bee on Facebook!
4. Tweet or share this Giveaway!
5. Pin one your favorite items from The Wooden Bee to Pinterest!

Remember, only 4 entries count, and each one must be left in a separate comment! If you don't have an email listed on your bio, leave it here in one of your comments. Deadline to enter is Midnight, December 22nd!

Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org's generator.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas!

Would you like to Sponsor a Giveaway on Love 2 Upcycle? You don't have to be a member of Upcyclers to be a sponsor, all Etsy sellers of upcycled or eco-friendly products are welcome! But of course, we'd love for you to join the team!

Understanding Green Branding

I recently wrote to you about my continued quest to become an ethical consumer, by discussing ways to Greener Your Shopping List. It was also important to understand green brands & their marketing verbiage while on this sustainable shopping mission.

"Green brands are those brands that consumers associate with environmental conservation and sustainable business practices." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green brands

We all know what a recycle symbol looks like & what the three R’s mean. I understood what organic & natural meant, or did I? When I started looking closer at the green items I was purchasing the labels started to get a little confusing. This one said all natural but not organic, that one was organic but made with only 70% organic ingredients. I could buy eggs that are organic but not cage free, but could I buy eggs that are cage free & not organic? To clear things up, it was important to stop & understand the verbiage of the green branding universe.

Here are some basics terms needed for understanding green product claims. You may already know them, but do you know what they mean on the products you buy?

Natural: is very broad term when it comes to food products available in our grocery stores. In fact, the FDA has not even established a formal definition of the word natural. It is used on packaging to attract health conscious consumers but doesn’t mean all the products ingredients will be natural. Best thing to do, read the ingredients list on the label. Vague terms like natural are not allowed on the ingredients list, with the exception natural flavorings.

 
Certified Organic: It is important to know that each country regulates their food certifications differently. In the US & Canada, they have passed organic legislation making it so the term “organic” may be only used by certified producers. Anyone involved in the food production process can be certified organic. That’s everyone from seed suppliers and farmers to retailers and restaurants.

In the US, the federal legislation defines three levels of organic. A company can use “100% organic” on their product label if the product is entirely made with organic ingredients & methods. Products with at least 95% organic ingredients can use the word “organic.” Both these levels may also display the same USDA organic seal. The third level is for products who ingredient lists contains at least 70% organic ingredients and they may use “made with organic ingredients” on their packaging.


 
Fair Trade: Consumer product packaging from other countries can be labeled with this eco term. Fair Trade Certification is an organized movement aimed at helping developing countries improve their trading conditions & promote sustainability. The Fairtrade Certification system covers a growing range of products, including bananas, honey, coffee, oranges, cocoa, cotton, dried and fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, and even wine. Fairtrade International (FLO), along with many others, helps to head up this international certification & reports in 2008 that an estimated 7.5 million producers and their families were benefiting from fair trade funded infrastructure, assistance and community development projects.

This movement has its critics & many see this label as a marketing ploy that does not challenge the world’s trading system. The best thing to do is research the specific products & companies you are buying from. There are a number of fair trade labels that can appear on packaging.

Besides understanding consumer products & their environmental impacts, knowledge of green branding gives us a way we can vote with our dollars for sustainable changes in our communities & world!