Bamboo Is Miracle Renewable Fiber from Floors to Textiles

Bamboo is a favorite of green ecology enthusiasts.

Bamboo is easy to grow and springs right back up again after harvesting.

Many species are invasive. This means their root
systems are so hardy, they crowd out other plants.

These same root systems regenerate new plants.

Bamboo can be grown without chemicals, and bamboo plants grow quickly.

It's easy to see why bamboo gets rave reviews as a green resource.

It's impressive that the same plant that is used for hardwood floors can be processed into a yarn that rivals cotton for softness.

Bamboo fabrics are praised for being:

• Soft.
• Antimicrobial (resist viruses and bacteria).
• Absorbent.
• Wick moisture away from the body.
• Washable.
• Durable and long-lasting.

Here's more information about the chemical and mechanical processes used to process the fiber used in bamboo clothing, towels, and other textile goods.

Simple Semi-Automatic Energy Saving Ice Maker Cost One Buck

I hate my refrigerator. It is old. It is noisy. The top shelf is held in place with a spring rod for curtains, because a part is broken. One day I overloaded the shelf, and the Britta Box and big tea pitcher came sliding my way.

The bottom plate also is broken. One side hangs sadly, resting on the floor.

And I don’t have an icemaker.

I’d like a new refrigerator with a freezer on the bottom. Even the smallest model appears too big for my tiny condominium kitchen. They also cost twice as much as a standard model and use more energy.

I also learned that an ice maker uses more energy. For the past three years, I’ve dutifully filled my lone ice cube tray. I slowly fill half-gallon plastic bags and try not to use too much ice in a drink.

Now, stackable ice cube trays have semi-automated the process. A set of three set me back a buck at the Dollar Store.

I don’t like the smaller cubes quite as well as the gigantes formed in my longtime mold. But the four ice trays fill up a half-gallon bag in one freeze. Two days after buying the molds, I have a gallon-and-a-half in the freezer, and I’m only filling the ice trays once a day, instead of three or four times a day.

A freezer full of ice is another energy saving measure. It’s also a great thing during hurricane season. The great blocks of ice in gallon water containers melt very slowly if electricity goes out in a storm. My freezer items will last for at least five days.

I am so pleased with the ease with which I now fill a half-gallon bag with ice. I cannot imagine needing an energy-sucking automatic ice maker now that I have my stackable plastic ice cube trays. Sometimes a dollar goes a long way. It is great fun to solve a problem on the cheap.

Grocery Totes: Arty, Handcrafted, Colorful, Practical or Frugal -- Your Choice

Once upon a time in Baltimore, in a distant century, a health foods store was run by the 3HO Society, followers of Yogi Bhajan’s kundalini yoga. The store was on Charles Street, in the neighborhood where I lived, and I shopped there often.

I brought bottles and filled them with honey. I brought canisters and filled them with whole wheat flour, unbleached white flour for pastry, rice, nuts, raisins and other dried foods. We weighed the container before filling it, and weighed it again after it was filled.

I have been doing my part this past year to use the many cloth bags that I’ve received from colleges and universities where I’ve worked, as well as one from a chiropractor and another from a grand opening of The Whole Foods Market.

Sometimes, I have to run back out to the car, because I forgot to bring them in with me. Bronwen Davies at her Flights of Fab Fashion Fancy blog published the perfect solution last year – completely foldable fashionable totes that fit into their own small carrying pouch.

The pouch shown at the top. $37.95, holds the five colorful bags in the Retro series. The tan bag with the circles, right, is from that series. You can purchase one bag for $8.50. Davies likes the black-and-white bag from the Monochronmatic series. I agree. You can see them at the Envirosax website.


I thought I might find something ultra high-style at New York's Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). I was disappointed with this tote is priced at $55.00 for the largest size (14 x 20 inches). The leather handles probably discourage purse snatchers with the standard operating procedure (SOP) of snapping the strap.

Project for the Old American Century has advertising exhortations that evoke early 20th century advertising.



Speaking of frugal, I was fascinated to discover that more enterprising people than I are making a beautiful buck from an idea I had some time ago. My kitchen is far too small for typical recycling containers, so I turned a nice burlap mall bag with a plastic laminated interior to purpose as a garbage container. Another free-standing bag, a plastic shopping tote from a take-out place, stores my bottles until I have time to carry them to the apartment building’s floor containers.

This set of four colorful bags are made of waterproof tarpaulin. The bright colors make it easy to sort recyclables. My Oceanside burlap shopping bag cost me a buck or two at a thrift store and the Pei Wei bag was free. The matched bags here will set you back $22.

In sum, there's plenty of choice -- far more than I can show. If you are tired of plastic bags spilling out of your cupboard, take a moment to save the environment, bring your own bag, and tote in style.