SewGreen News, November 29, 2007 SUPPORT SEWGREEN AT ALTERNATIVE GIFT FAIR, DEC. 1 The Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair offers holiday shoppers a way to give charitable donations as gifts for friends and relatives. More than 30 locally based organizations will be represented. On behalf of SewGreen, Sustainable Tompkins (www.sustainabletompkins.org) is offering a small gift that will pay for a sewing class for a young person. The Fair is a great way to learn about our community, share holiday cheer, and choose gifts that reduce impact on the environment. 10 am - 4 pm, Saturday, December 1, First Presbyterian Church, 315 North Cayuga Street, Ithaca. For a complete list of gifts: www.ithacaaltgiftfair.org.
SHOP GREEN, NOW THROUGH DEC. 23 This holiday season, please support local businesses that feature earth-friendly products. You can also enter to win green holiday gifts. Pick up a SHOP GREEN PASSPORT, now through December 23, at any of these participating businesses: Autumn Leaves Used Books, Everything Wellness Raw Foods Eatery, Greenstar Cooperative Market, Greenstar Oasis, Home Green Home, Ithaca Hemp Company, Mama Goose, Moosewood, No Radio Records, Pastimes, Petrune, Significant Elements, Smart Monkey Café, Ten Thousand Villages, Tree of Life Health and Wellness, and Tuff Soul. The SHOP GREEN campaign was organized by Autumn Newell and JoJo Alpern, of Tuff Soul, which features organic and vintage fashions, 516 West State, Ithaca. WRAPPING GIFTS WITH FABRIC, DEC. 17 Join Gwen Daniels for a free presentation of gift wrap ideas for a sustainable world. Gwen will show how to use fabric and other reusable decorations instead of paper and ribbon that usually ends up wasted. Supplies stay in circulation and inspire creativity! The presentation is Gwen's holiday gift to the community. 5 - 6 pm, Monday, Dec 17, at Home Green Home, 215 Ithaca Commons. GREEN T DESIGN CONTEST The 2008 eco-fashion design contest, a SewGreen project, has started! It's called GREEN T, and focuses on the cotton t-shirt as a symbol of the problems with the conventional apparel industry. Cotton is the most toxin-intensive crop on earth. It occupies only 2.4 percent of the total farmland, but uses 25 percent of the world's agricultural pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. As opposed to organic cotton, which uses no toxins, about 1/3 pound of poisons are needed to produce one conventional cotton t-shirt; and about 3/4 pound for a pair of denim jeans. It's time to "Green the T" by reducing purchases of conventional cotton Ts, buying organic, not treating t-shirts as throw-away items, and putting old ones to use in creative new ways! The contest encourages original designs and creativity in reuse of cotton (mainly t-shirts, but also denim, and any other existing cotton clothing and fabric) for fashions or housewares. All ages and skill levels are welcome. Top prize is $200 and there will be many other prizes and awards. Winners will be invited to participate in refashion shows and exhibits. The Green T contest deadline is March 1, 2008. For more information and an entry form, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] T-SHIRT REFASHIONING WORKSHOPS Want to get a better idea of what can be made from old t-shirts? I can come to your group or class to present a short workshop that gets everyone involved in making a bag or skirt or stylish new top - using just scissors and an old T. I bring all the materials as well as examples of completed projects. The activity is popular with all ages, boys too, and can be adapted to "teach the teacher" so you can do your own demonstrations. Got leftover or unwanted Ts? Donate them to SewGreen for reuse projects! SEW & TELLS The first two SewGreen "Sew & Tells" were held at Home Green Home, the new sustainable homewares store on the Ithaca Commons. No matter what question came up about sewing or needlecraft - someone had an answer! People brought books to pass around, showed projects, or just listened and learned. In addition to those who sew or quilt, spinners, knitters, fiber artists, budding designers, and sewing machine enthusiasts also joined us. Watch for more Sew & Tells in '08! HELP SEWGREEN GROW SewGreen is at the beginning of what promises to be a long and successful lifetime. Although it has no formal organizational structure yet, SewGreen is being conducted in a formal, transparent manner. An ad hoc Advisory Board is providing oversight and guidance. Soon, we will be drafting funding requests. If you have experience or talent at helping new organizations or community programs form and grow, we welcome advice, leads, consultation, and any wisdom you wish to share. SEWING CLASS TEAM SewGreen is committed to designing a series of sewing classes, to start in February '08. If you would like to be on the team that plans the classes, please let me know. We've had a lot of input on what people want to learn and many offers to teach basic sewing or demo reuse projects. Now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty of where, when, what to teach, how to screen instructors, etc. Thanks in advance. DONATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED SewGreen is happy to accept clean, mildew-free fabric and yarn, as well as notions and equipment. Most donations will be saved for the 2008 Sewing Reuse Rummage Sale (proceeds support community sewing classes and other SewGreen events), some will be used in sewing classes and workshops, and some may be donated in turn to other organizations that use them for charitable or educational projects. We are also accepting donations of unwanted sewing machines, from computerized to people-powered, for refurbishment and redistribution at low cost, or for use in classes. Drop me an email or call me at 277-7611 to arrange drop-off or pick-up. JOIN THE SEWGREEN E-MAIL GROUP Start your own conversations about reuse projects, sources of earth-friendly fabrics and yarns, treadle sewing machines, cool websites, whatever. Join the SewGreen email group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SewGreen/. Click on the blue Join This Group button at the upper right and follow the directions. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN SEWGREEN! Wendy Skinner SewGreen Coordinator 127 Giles Street, Ithaca NY 14850 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 607-277-7611 *** SewGreen: Encouraging sustainability in fabric, fiber, and fashion *** SewGreen News announces events and news about sustainable sewing and eco-fashion in our community. To add a member to this list, just send me an email address. To leave the list, send me an email asking to be dropped. _______________________________________________ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
