This weekend offers a lot of opportunity for those looking to pitch in or start going green.

The Great American Cleanup, a nationwide effort led locally by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful is set for this Saturday, April 26. Check the Keep Cincinnati Beautiful website for the neighborhood cleanup nearest you, or come join Live Green Cincinnati with the Downtown Residents Council sprucing things up near the Purple People Bridge.

This weekend also brings thinkGREEN at Marvin’s Organic Gardens. An educational day for the entire family including music, food, activities, door prizes, lectures, art, vendors and resources - all with one common goal - to educate our community on the environment and learning to live “green”. This event is free and open to the public. Bring the whole family – there will be something for everyone!

Next on the agenda is Concert Earth at Miami Whitewater Forest. Come listen and let your roots rock, soul shake, funk fly, blues bounce, and rhythm roll with some of the area’s finest musicians and SOL Record recording artists. Various speakers will present environmental topics throughout the day. This event is free and open to the public.

Don’t forget the opening for Nonsense to Greensense at Park+Vine, Nicholas Gallery, and Artworks!

For more details on these and lots more fun green events, check out the Live Green Cincinnati events page.

It’s finally the week of the Cincinnati Earth Day celebration. Just a few more days until the party starts.

Tip #5
A New Life

One of the ultimate ways to be green is to use items that are already produced as well and as long as you can. If you have something like a comfy armchair or a working radio that has no more use for you but still has some life in it, find it a new home!

• Re-gift. Clean up or repaint that bookcase and give it to someone for a housewarming present or a graduation gift.
• Yard sale. Make some spare cash by selling items at a garage sale. Involve your neighbors to organize a street sale.
• Donate. Take clothes or usable furniture to the nearest Goodwill or donation drop-off.
• Freecycle. Use the internet to find a taker for what you have to offer. Join Cincinnati Freecycle.
• Build Value. If you have building materials that are unused or still in great shape, donate them to Building Value. This is also a great place to find a deal on unique materials.

Need to find a gift? The places you can donate to are also sources or great bargains on second-hand items. Vintage is in style, and you never know what you might find at an estate sale in a nearby neighborhood.

In the spirit of reusing, here are a few suggestions for just how useful your new Live Green Cincinnati t-shirt can be.

1) Wear It!
Tell people who ask what it means why you are interested in the environment. Share your passions for going green.

2) Make a tote bag
There is a great set of instructions on Martha Stewart’s website on how to convert any t-shirt into a tote bag. Make your weekly shopping trip into a green plastic bag-less adventure.

3) Take a nap
Sew any t-shirt into a pillow by following these easy steps. Once your project is complete, celebrate by testing it for a few hours with your eyes closed.

4) Protect your precious
A t-shirt makes a great protective dust cover for that interviewing suit or bridesmaid dress in the back of your closet. You can also wrap that shiny silver thing you inherited but never use in a t-shirt when you put it in the bottom drawer to protect it from scratches.

5) Donate it
When you’re no longer using it, donate it to a local Goodwill, charity, or thrift store. It’ll be new to someone else in no time.

Both buying local and buying handmade can save energy and resources, mainly by reducing transportation needs for goods and materials and investing in the individual and the community [not to mention the opportunity to have something that is one of a kind]. Even greener than these is DIY.

When you “do it yourself”, you are making an environmental choice.

• If you can make it, you can buy less. Reducing your consumption of unneeded goods can reduce waste entering the landfill and also save you some cash. Regifting is also acceptable if you are given that toaster that you simply do not need or cannot use but you just know that your new neighbor would really appreciate it.
• If you fix it, you can buy smart. If you are handy about making things or willing to learn, you can repair items that you already have to extend their useful life. When you want to make a purchase, put it on a list and think about it for at least 2 weeks. Do some research and find out which model will last longer, use less power, be easier to replace parts, or qualify as EnergyStar.
• If you can do it, it will last a long time. If you spend time finding the best locally offered items when you make a purchase, you will respect it and take good care of it. Keeping your dress clothes covered with old pillowcases or plastic bags in the closet will prolong their life. If you think it through, you may also be able to make a purchase that can be re-purposed when you no longer need it. For instance, if you pick up a gently used but excellent quality fish tank at a yard sale and then find out you’re allergic to fish, you can transform your tank into a terrarium or planter.

Consider picking up a new skill so that you can re-sew the loose seam in your pants, cut a broken wooden crate into a pile of paint stirrers for your home remodel, or transform the waistband of your worn-out boxers into an ankle-band to keep your pants out of your gears when you ride your bike to work (watch for my step-by-step instructions on how to do this coming out soon)!

Most attempts to reclaim and remodel an older building for a new use begin with a careful deconstruction. Reusing architectural features like columns and fireplaces and doors in a clever way can give the new space a unique and creative appeal. In fact, an entire section of the LEED green building guidelines revolves around resource reuse and elimination of construction and remodeling waste materials.

Building Value is a known source for procuring reclaimed building materials, but it can also provide a salvage and deconstruction service at your construction site. Be sure to consider contacting Building Value for assistance with deconstructing your next project or outfitting your remodel with one-of-a-kind reclaimed building materials.

Cincinnati has excellent recycling options. Through Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services and Rumpke Recycling, just about anyone who wants to is able to keep recyclable material out of the landfill. Let’s face it, Mt. Rumpke is quite stately when decorated for Christmas but we wouldn’t be heartbroken if it stopped growing.

With your recycling bin or local drop off location, you can give glass, aluminum, paper, and plastic another chance at life (check here for the complete list of acceptable items for recycling).

In addition to recycling the obvious, this article from Co-op America lists 21 additional things you didn’t know you can recycle. There are methods to recycle anything from appliances to eyeglasses and from sneakers to ink cartridges. Another good national resource for item recycling options is Earth 911, and you can certainly find local groups and companies who reclaim things through the HCDOES regional material interchange online.

This Christmas, I was given a copy of Danny Seo’s daily calendar called “Do Just One Thing“. Danny’s daily calendar and accompanying blog are a great resource for ideas to be gentler on the environment in your life - one small step at a time.

If you’re reading and watching new environmental information in the news, it might be easy to assume that everything is out of your control and already way too out of hand for anything you do to make a difference. You may not be able to single-handedly reverse global warming, but you can definitely improve the quality of your life by just considering a few small changes to your daily doings.

Take for example the idea of using an old sock for dusting around the house versus purchasing specialized disposable cloths and dusters both gives old socks a new life and minimizes new materials you would purchase. Better for your wallet, better for the earth, easier for cleaning. There are tons of excellent ideas that can be found on the web and in the ideas of individuals. These are the types of changes that require very little effort on your part and create rippling change.

My simple green project for the week is to save the pages I tear off my “Do Just One Thing” calendar and staple them into a pocket notebook to carry with me for the ideas that are born while I’m out on a walk or a hikes. What is your simplest daily green tip?

Looking for a way to stick to your winter budget and grab a few books to keep yourself entertained or grab an inexpensive gift for someone you care about? Visit the Friends of the Library Used Book Sale at their warehouse in Hartwell Jan 18-20.

Save cash, support the library, keep a book in circulation, and learn!

Often when cleaning or organizing in the beginning of a new year, I come across something that I consider too far gone to keep. For instance, I noticed today that my grimy old Christmas tree stand was still lying around, exactly where I put it 3 weeks ago.

My first thought was to toss it in the trash and buy something new at an after-Christmas sale or wait until next year so I didn’t have to store it. But after a second thought I decided to try to give it some environmental consideration and elbow grease first before deciding whether it was a lost case.

Simple soap, water, a set of rags I’ve made from old towels too thin to use any longer, and about 10 minutes of my effort was enough to clean up the stand so that it was nicer looking than it had for years. I stocked it in the closet and planned to clean it each year and keep it as long as it was useful.

Why hadn’t I done that weeks ago, or years ago for that matter? I’ve said before that care and re-use is the surest way to save materials and curb consumption. A good suggestion for a 2008 goal is to save money and resources by using some of your human energy to maintain what you are already using.

The Freecycle Network is a great way to keep your used and no longer needed belongings out of the landfill. The site is completely nonprofit and moderated locally by volunteers. There is no buying or selling, only giving of items to a new home or posting a request for something you need that someone else may have to give.

I recently offered up a working TV I’ve been watching for 20 years on Freecycle and found someone willing to pick it up within a few hours. Hopefully this TV will live another decade or so under good care and then be properly disposed of with the county or the Technology Recycling Group where it will be deconstructed and reused as much as possible. Little effort involved for maximum reward.

Consider “Freecycling” this holiday season when you’re making space or re-gifting last year’s unused gifts. For an example of items being “Freecycled”, check out the Cincinnati group’s yahoo page.