Habitat For Humanity - the store

Alright, folks.

My friend Monica told me about another great resource for home goods and I want to make sure you all know about it. Habitat for Humanity, the organization which builds homes for families all across the country has these ReStores that accept donated goods for resale. While every ReStore is a little different, most focus on home improvement goods—furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances. These donated goods are sold to the general public at a fraction of the retail price to help local affiliates fund the construction of Habitat homes within their communities.

Now, while I recognize that some of this stuff is new and wouldn't work for this project, I believe a lot of it is refurbished or used. The store I went to had all these beautiful old windows and doors. Used furniture and appliances. And it was all really affordable. So the next time you are looking to make a home repair, check it out.

To look up a location near you, http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx

-Courtney

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

I know, it’s been over two weeks since my last post.

Let’s just say I’ve been distracted by the nice weather.

Here’s what you’ve missed:

The Good: A few weeks back I took a solo trip to NYC. The purpose of the trip was to attend the second part of a yoga adjustments workshop at Jivamukti. The workshop was fabulous. The weekend ended up being about practicing-lots-of-yoga-eating-rich-foods-&-drinking-good-wine. (A bit contradictory? Yes. But, as any yogi knows… it’s all about balance!)

But I digress. I did not bring this up because of what I did in NYC. I’m mentioning the trip because of what I didn’t do. I did not step foot into any type of retail store. Not The Strand. Not the ginormus Apple store on 5th Avenue. Not lululemon. None of ‘em. And it was an utterly satisfying trip. That’s progress my friends.

The Bad:
We bought paint. Eco friendly? Yes. Used? No.

(Full disclosure: I picked the colors. Brian paid.)

The Ugly:
By mid-May our house will be crawling with construction crews installing new wood floors, carpet, seven new windows, & exterior siding.

We went as “green” as possible (even choosing carpet derived partly from corn).

Brian signed all of the contracts and wrote all of the checks, but I would be lying if I said I sat idly by while he chose the products. Truth be told, I was very vocal throughout the selection process.

Is this cheating? Maybe. Okay… Probably.

However, in this case the long-term investment in our home won out over the Y.O.N.N. project. Consider this my confession. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.

~Stacey

Article on Consumerism

My mom sent me a great article on American consumerism. There are some interesting questions posed, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Be-a-Savvy-usnews-3454225752.html?x=0

-Courtney

Living with a Piece of Hollywood.

I'm finding that there are so many things I wouldn't have discovered had it not been for a Year of Nothing New. When Mike and I moved in together, we only had a bed, a sofa, and a dresser. Our roommates from our previous house had supplied all the other furniture needed. Mike and I figured we'd just pick up the other things we needed: a kitchen table, a coffee table, a rug, and a desk at thrift stores or on craigslist.

So, I was trying to find a rug on craigslist, and I saw a posting for a gently used "rug sale" and thought I'd go check it out. I google mapped the sale location and showed up the next day to 20th Century Props in North Hollywood. That's right. A prop house where film and tv shows go to rent items. "Cool!" I thought.

Sadly, the prop house is closing at the end of April because business has been bad since the writer's strike. Amazingly, for me however, everything is on sale and open to the public for purchase. The gentleman at the desk had me sign in and gave me a clipboard to write down whatever I was interested in, which would be priced later on. Basically, you just write the number code on the item's tag and take it back to the office and they price everything for you.

I took the clipboard and I entered the store room: Rugs. Tables. Beauty Parlor Chairs. Taxidermy. Lanterns. Bathtubs. Hardware. Chairs. Umbrella holders. Etc. Etc. There was even a row of old telephones (most of which I was informed still work.) I took a very long list back to the front office and walked out with a really cool 1950's kitchen table, rug, and some awesome bookends. I had wanted even more, but these prices were a bit higher than my local thrift store.

I never would have known a place like this existed and I'm becoming much more aware of what's out there. Who wants a boring table from Ikea when you can get a piece of Hollywood??

-Courtney

Dirt?

I bought dirt.

To be more accurate… I bought (in bulk) topsoil, mushroom compost, and mulch. I had a moment of hesitation over this purchase while pondering the question: Does dirt count as something new? And along the same line of thinking: Do flowers, plants and/or vegetable seeds/starts count as a new purchases?

I came to this definitive conclusion: No!

Which is good news for my garden. I welcome opposing opinions but here’s my reasoning:

• Buying dirt, seeds, plants, or flowers are all natural and, although cultivated, are not manufactured products
• I am resolved to only purchase products that are organic and from purveyors who take care not to harm the environment through their development or sale
• The vegetables and herbs grown in my garden will be used to feed my family’s bodies and the flowers to feed our spirits

(OK… that last point is a little cheesy, but I’ll sleep well tonight knowing that I’ve stayed true to this project while doing two of my favorite things: playing in the dirt and beautifying my environment!)

~Stacey

10 cents off

I realized something today. Part of Stacey and I's commitment to this project is to bring a travel mug with us when we visit coffee shops instead of using the disposable cups they give you. Just another way to lessen waste. I can't say I've done this every single time I've gone to Starbucks, but I am getting back into the habit with it. And I realized something today. If you bring your own mug, Starbucks gives you 10 cents off your coffee purchase. Now, wooptie-woo, 10 whole cents, but really its a nice gesture. And if you put all those 10 cent discounts together for all the coffee purchased from people who bring in their own mug, I'm sure that is a chunk of change for a cooperation as large as Starbucks. That made me feel good about going there today. That they are thinking about the environment. Think about doing the same!

-Courtney

Confession

I cheated. I bought something new.

Here's how it went down:

I'm producing/filming a documentary on Mike's band Check in the Dark (awesome band, check out their new iphone app or website, checkinthedarkmusic.com). They are also working with Leighton Meester (of Gossip Girl) as her acoustic band and she suggested that she join them for their gig last night and play a few of the songs they've been working on together. "Great! Another cool thing to add to the documentary," I think. But as I go to grab a tape to record, I realize I'm out. Now, this all happened very last minute and as its only a few hours before I have to tape, so I don't have much time to think of what my other options could be and I'd like to think that there actually could be some. I cave. I swipe my debit card and buy a nice, plastic wrapped 3 pack. First glitch.

-Courtney