GUEST POST: Recycled Kites ~ Creative Repurposing Takes Flight

About the Guest Blogger ~ Glenn Davison is an eco-artist and workshop leader who has been featured on HGTV as a New England Craftsman.  He is the editor of the books, “Kites in the Classroom,” “How to Fly a Kite,” and the “Guide to Building Miniature Kites.”  He is a director of the club, “Kites Over New England” and chairman of the education committee for the American Kitefliers Association. (Find links at the end of this post.)

Oh, the people I meet when I am out and about, always talking about Time Well Spent… I met Glenn Davison at the Topsfield Fair. When I checked out Glenn’s website, I found the kites he makes are truly functional art, a great vehicle for the message of creative repurposing. So, I was happy to welcome Glenn to write a guest post on his area of expertise ~ kites! I encourage you to read on and visit Glenn’s group of websites…

Here are some mini kites from one of Glenn's several kite sites!

Kites have a long history that goes back hundreds of years.  In that time kites have been made from everything you can imagine especially repurposed materials.  Certainly Jell-O wouldn’t work, but what about candy wrappers?  Would they fly?

 Bamboo and paper continue to be widely used for making kites.  People have used old cotton bed sheets for kite sails and kite tails.  Many people made their first kites from yesterday’s newspapers and twine.

 One of the great things about kites is that they can be made from a wide variety of thin materials that can be taped together into larger sheets.  Those sheets can be given a framework then flown many times.  Kite flying is an excellent hobby for that reason.  When you have a completed kite it can be flown many times without additional fees or expenses.  All you need is sunshine (optional) and wind.

Read on to learn more about the wonderful world of handmade kites…

Bootstrapping & Spreading the Word about Time Well Spent @ The Essex Clamfest 2009

Bootstrapping my way along with the pre-launch stage of my triple-bottom-line start-up… So, I’m getting some upcycled jewelry ready to sell, aka EcoBling!

I’ll be at the Essex Clamfest ~ Sunday, 10/24 from 11-4. Lots going on including sampling of local chowder (of course) with local crafters and activities for kids, too! Here’s a link to more details.

Here’s a link to my Facebook album of some of my own EcoBling creations: EcoBling Album.

And, there’s plenty more examples of repurposed products that will ultimately be the types of things created at and for sale at Time Well Spent: Picture This at Time Well Spent Photoblog.

2 Green Events 2Nite – Decisions, Decisions…

Just a quick FYI:

From Hamilton-Wenham Green:

FREE FILM: CONSUMING KIDS

Hamilton-Wenham Library

Wednesday, October 21st 7:00pm
Attention Parents and Grandparents!  Join us for a screening of Consuming Kits, a critically-acclaimed documentary about the pervasive and pernicious effects of advertising on the health and well-being of children.  Do your kids relentlessly ask you to buy the latest and greatest toys or food items?  Come find out how marketers are using the “Nag Factor” to get you to walk out of the store with even more stuff.  Josh Golin, the Assistant Director for the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, will be on hand to answer questions.

Find out more about the film here.

Hope to see you there!

From Greater Newburyport GreenDrinks (on LinkedIn):

Please join us at Seaglass Restaurant this Wednesday (10/21) from 7-9pm, 4 Oceanfront North, Salisbury, phone 462-5800.

We have their private room reserved and Chef Bandolini plans on visiting with us to enlighten the group on how he incorporates green practices into his food preparation. This will surely spark fun dialog about green food and drink! Seaglass is a gorgeous and eco-friendly restaurant right on the water. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to join us and bring a friend!

So many good ways to connect and learn, so little time… N.

Webinar About Different Legal Structures for Social Enterprise Including L3C

Many with whom I have chatted about Time Well Spent have heard my “spiel” on L3C, the new business form I am seriously considering …

So that you may learn more about this cutting-edge legal structure, and to prove I’m not crazy (at least not completely crazy), I encourage readers of my blog and those interested in “businesses doing well by doing good,” to virtually attend a webinar ~ on Thursday, from 1-2:30 EST ~ that is being offered by the Social Enterprise Alliance. While it is open to all, it looks like the sign-up closes tonight so twittering this out to those on my list and posting it a few places in the hopes that it might be helpful to those with whom I network online.

Read on for a description of the one-hour webinar and here’s a link to the complete description page including a brief bio of the speaker, Robert Wexler.

C2C Needs Volunteers @ Their Giving Factory – Definitely Time Well Spent

Here’s an email I just received:

Good Afternoon!

 I hope that you are having a fabulous week! I am reaching out to you because Cradles to Crayons is currently in huge need of volunteer help over the next couple of months. We’ve been experiencing an increase in orders and as the temperature drops we only expect the demand for everyday essentials to increase even more. Currently, over 900 hundred orders for local children are waiting to be filled! Please consider spending a shift at The Giving Factory to help keep thousands of area kids safe and warm this winter. 

 If you are interested in signing a group up to volunteer, please contact Terrel Stokes at terrel@cradlestocrayons.org or 617.471.8417 x127.  Available volunteer shifts are attached to this email. Please be aware that shifts are filled on a first come, first served basis.

 Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for your continued support!

 

I just dropped off a car FULL of donations at C2C ~ with thanks to Miss Julie at Small Wonders Pre-School for donating all of their post-yard-sale “good enough for your own child” clothes. A trip to Quincy from the North Shore isn’t nearly as daunting as it sounds. Quincy can be a tough place to navigate (this I know from years of taking my girls there for Irish dance competitions, driving around pre-GPS looking for the venues). BUT, C2C is EASY to find, just a short couple of minutes off of Exit 12… And, driving through the tunnel is easy, too. Stay in the middle and drive… I have to say that I think the Big Dig did ultimately make for an expedited drive through the city…

I’ve blogged a great deal about this fabulous organization. Volunteering at C2C is a big part of their approach to helping families in need locally get free, quality clothing for their children. After all, with volunteers manning the factory, led by a wonderful staff, they are able to keep their overhead costs down. From National Honor Society groups to church groups to eco-friendly groups, to small businesses that want to help employees bond over a shared cause, this is a hands-on, take action way to truly help. It’s about walking the walk for those who talk the talk…

Looks like I’ll have to get a Time Well Spent group together to volunteer for a shift! I’ll check the calendar and post details soon.

Carpe Diem ~ Nancy

 

 

Blog Action Day ~ About CARE ~ Helping People Impacted by the Environment

CARE reached out to little ol’ me about Blog Action Day ~ They must be reaching out to everyone!

Of course, I went right to their website. Besides being flattered that they contacted me in the first place, I just love  a good mission-driven website. There’s so much good being done, in the face of great need admittedly, and with so much more to be done, but the online content of a socially-responsible website goes right to the topic of awareness building that I am all about….  

So, I took the time to visit the CARE site…  and 3 things quickly struck me as being on the same wavelength with my own beliefs and hopes for the future.

Read on for the list of 3…

Blog Action Day ~ CARE Guest Post @ Time Well Spent

By Simon Owens, CARE

Climate change is not only about melting ice caps and polar bears. Climate change is about people.  

Swinging weather patterns are creating disasters on a scale that human civilization has never before witnessed. For the world’s poorest people – the ones least equipped to deal with its effects – climate change is devastating their crops, livelihoods and communities. 

“Climate change is worsening the plight of those hundreds of millions of men, women and children who already live in extreme poverty – and it threatens to push hundreds of millions more people into similar destitution,” says CARE International’s Secretary General Robert Glasser. “A concerted international response to this unprecedented challenge is required if we are to avoid catastrophic human suffering.” 
 

Read on for the rest of Simon’s guest post…

 

Blog Action Day ~ Time Well Spent Helps Suburbanites Reduce Their Carbon Footprint

In case you didn’t know, it’s Blog Action Day 2009 ~ an empowering day where bloggers of all sorts blog about a common topic…This year’s topic is Global Warming…

Blog Action Day is particularly important for changebloggers – those using their blogs as an impetus for positive change. I’m a bit of a changeblogger, but within the context of being a changemaker ~ walking the walk, while talking the talk (or more aptly put, blogging the talk)!  I’m a social entrepreneur in the pre-launch stages of my new business, an innovative model I’ve created in service to my values-driven mission.  If blog action day brings you to my blog for the first time ~ Welcome!  You can see the mission and method in the right-hand column (just a little lower —->).

My work on getting Time Well Spent launched is recorded here on my personal weblog,  the temporary home of my triple-bottom-line enterprise ~ Time Well Spent, An Eco-Arts & Creative Repurposing, Community Enrichment Center on Boston’s North Shore (say that three times fast!).

I invite any new visitors to check out the Welcome page or the Physical Space Form and Function to get a good look at what Time Well Spent is all about… It’s a comprehensive concept… So, a great deal to take in at once, my biggest challenge… But SO worth the extra effort! And, I think readers will find it Time Well Spent as well!

Now, how does Time Well Spent relate to the Blog Action Day topic??!! Read on to find out and see lots of great pics…

Shop Local and Outdoors this Weekend on the North Shore (and Beyond)

SALEM

I am going to visit the Biz Baz in Salem, a weekend-long artisans fair with a witch-y edge in the heart of Salem:

Salem Haunted Happenings So much going on this weekend! Haunted Biz Baz on Essex Street, Wharf Knots on Pickering Wharf, Children’s Day on the Common – and that’s just during the day!

Here’s a link to the official site with the entire calendar of events.

And, here’s a link to the blog.

Read on for more about Salem & details of a great event in Boston & some products you are going to like a “hole” lot…

September DeClutter For Good Results – Mission Accomplished – Business Attire Donated to People Working Hard to Secure a Solid Job

Below is the  follow-up post from September’s focus. After delivering a carful of donations to Solutions At Work, I didn’t make it to Wellspring House yet…  I’m taking lemons (my overdue delivery) and making lemonade (accepting more donations) so that the delivery of business attire to Wellspring House will be considerably larger than originally expected. Women’s business clothing, head to toe, will be accepted at my pre-launch office on the dates listed  in my newsletter…  (Click here to go to the newsletter – if you came from the newsletter, this is like an infinite loop!)

Here’s the followup post that gives an idea of what I am accomplishing, in spite of being slightly disorganized as the year draws to a close. Once I deliver to Wellspring House, I’ll write up a post about them!

It was so nice to be able to help folks in the suburbs help others who are trying hard to work their way into a better situation…  Use the search tool in the right-hand column to learn more about our recipient organizations – Solutions At Work and Wellspring House.

Accompanied by my parents, I journeyed into Cambridge and, after some interesting twists and turns, found my way to Solutions At Work, where I have been before! Something about Cambridge and me that doesn’t mix! I can handle Boston pretty well, but I always seem to come at Cambridge from a different direction everytime and can’t make heads or tails of where I am… 

Of course, it was worth it ultimately as I was able to deliver the following donations to Solutions At Work where Tracy and a volunteer were hard at work sorting donations and very appreciative of the beautiful items we brought, commenting on the many people who would benefit from them…

Here’s the list of donations brought to Solutions At Work:

14 suits

21 pair of pants

42 shirts

jackets

2 overcoats

1 raincoat

2 business dresses

27 neckties

23 pair of socks

3 belts

6 pair of shoes

I’ll update this post with the total donations made to Wellspring House in Gloucester once I make the delivery! One DeClutter For Good event seems to be running into another ~ I’ll have to work on my time management! The DeClutter For Good donation drives are an extremely rewarding part of the Time Well Spent plan… And, it means I am helping others even as I continue to work on the business launch. Now, I better get back to that business plan…

Thanks again to all who donated! And, to those who didn’t, dont fret! There’s always next time to DeClutter For Good…

Focusing on one topic at a time ~ collectively clearing the clutter to improve the quality of our own daily lives ~ while helping those in need and minimizing our impact on the environment…