Christmas is just around the corner, and here at FWT HQ we have been discussing how to make it Green!

Here are some of our top tips to help you out!

1 – Buy your Christmas dinner from a local farmers market, the veg is organic and locally produced. You can also get meats and dairy products, and cakes. YUM!

2 –  Trees. The plastic Vs Real tree debate is solved! Real trees bio degrade, an artificial tree uses toxic materials and petro-chemical in its plastics, takes a lot of energy to produce, has often travelled from the far east, and it doesn’t even last forever!

3- Gifts. Buy locally, make your own, support charities, buy ethical/eco gifts. And remember it is more important to be together than any material gifts anyway!

4-  Decorate your home with natural and recyclable materials –what did we do before we had plastic, tinsel and Christmas decorations?        Try using sprigs and branches with berries; such as holly, mistletoe, fir tree, and pine cones. Tie them all together and make a festive mobile, or wreath. Another tip is to use old jars, wrap with coloured film and place candles inside to make lanterns.

Happy Holidays, and wishing you and your families and a great start to 2013!

All the Best from the First World Trash team!

Yup the Pumpkins will be Orange but our parties are going to be Green!

Here are some top tips from First World Trash HQ for having a Green Halloween…Spooooky!

1) Run a ‘Make your own costume’ workshop. Grab old clothes, or have a look in thrift stores. Cut, sew, glue, rip and Ta Da – the perfect zombie/witch outfit is yours, for LESS $$ than store bought ones!

2) Buy organic, natural makeup for your transformations, avoiding the mercury, pthalates, parabens, and fragrances that come standard in most big-name brands. YUCK! You don’t want that on your face..

3) Hosting a party? Buy compost-able plates, cups and cutlery (we won’t make you do more washing up!)

4) Need candy for the trick or treaters? How about organic and fair trade chocolate, candy and cookies? Still super yummy! And you can collect all the candies in earth friendly bags (check out our totes!).

5) Finally, why not  save some cash and re-use last years decorations? Soy candles are great for setting the spooky mood (and don’t give off any toxic fumes to mini Frankenstein’s), and Pumpkins can be bought from your local farm – KEEP IT LOCAL!

Here are some top Halloween facts for you, it makes interesting reading!

• 36 million: Children in the U.S., ages 5-13, who were expected to go trick-or-treating last year.
• 24.5 pounds: Weight of candy eaten, per person, by Americans in 2007.
• 2,077: Shops, in 2006, where trick-or-treaters could rent or buy costumes.
• 93: Percent of children who are expected to go trick-or-treating.
• 9 billion: Pieces of candy corn shipped to stores in October; total weight of the sugary kernels is 35 million pounds.
• 163: Percent that organic candy offerings increased from 2005-2006; the industry went up another four percent in 2007.
• $5.77 billion: Money Americans are expected to shell out for October 31 this year; the total breaks down to $66.54 per person.

Sources: US Census, Candy USA, Austin Business Journal.

Have a SPOOKY time! FWT 

We are really excited to announce our partnership with Recycle a Bicycle - 
Recycle-A-Bicycle is a community based bike shop and 501(c)3 non-profit organization that utilizes the bicycle as a resource to foster youth development, environmental education, community engagement, and healthy living. Through retail storefronts, social entrepreneurship, and innovative programs, Recycle-A-Bicycle empowers the youth of New York City.

Check out our brilliant new Wine Satchel, we use inner tubes from Recycle a Bicycle on the bottom making it super strong, water proof and hear wearing. What’s not to like?!

We will keep you posted about other products we will be using the inner tubes in.. watch this space!

Reclaiming urban spaces is what we have been thinking about.

Both big businesses and volunteer groups, setting up community gardens, are keen to use the spaces, but it is the community gardens who are currently in the lead, fulfilling the needs of the local community for increased skills, making positive food choices and community links.

Support is growing for groups to set up and maintain urban spaces that are not immediately being used for urban development. First World Trash is involved with ‘Smiling Hogs Head Ranch’ land in Queens that they are turning into farm land.

The importance of urban farming cannot be under estimated, with over half of the world’s population living in cities the world is becoming an increasingly urban place.

There are many environmental, economic, health and social issues that have arisen as a result of increased urbanisation and if left unrestrained these issues will continue to rise.
Many twentieth century architects wrote about creating clean cities where rural life met with urbanity, which precipitated many of the social and community issues we face today, including community disengagement, social exclusion and social isolation.

According to urban writer Jane Jacobs (1961):
“In city areas that lack natural and casual public life, it is
common for residents to isolate themselves from each
other to a fantastic degree”.

And here is a great reason to give support to urban and community run farms, and spaces. As urban and suburban dwellers simultaneously face similar social issues related to community disconnectedness and disengagement, there are potential solutions for both, through the provision of urban farming.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Smiling-Hogshead-Ranch/310809989005959

http://www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2012/09/28/reclaiming-unused-urban-space

At FWT HQ we have been discussing how much time kids spend outdoors (and adults too for that matter!).

Obesity in the U.S. is at it’s highest ever,  more than one-third of  adults (35.7%) are obese..and that’s a scary statistic. How can kids be encouraged to go outside and interact with nature?

How can this be facilitated if you live in the middle of a city?

Below are some great links to community projects, and ways to get up and out there and moving around!

How about more funded community bike rides? We love (and have teamed up with) http://www.recycleabicycle.org/.

We also love this British project http://www.projectwildthing.com/ getting kids outside!

Do we all get our recommended 30 mins of exercise a day? Watch this and be inspired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo

Community gardens are a great way to get people outside, and interacting with what they eat (We taught a healthy eating class in Brooklyn, and most of the kids did not know where peas, and potatoes came from). We are involved with Hogs Head Ranch community farm in Queens, come and visit us!

So you get the picture, now you have read this….GO OUTSIDE

FWT

It can be tricky to reduce the amount of waste we produce.

Produce from stores often comes wrapped in plastic, we use plastic bin liners to dispose all our waste, and take plastic bags from stores to then use them in our trash cans at home..

‘Hang on a minute!’ we all cry, ‘this sounds insane..’ yup it kinda is!

So what can we do about it?  The obvious comment is ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’  BUT  it is always great to get some practical tips!

We like this from Surf Rider Europe, hope you find it useful!

FWT

Ok people it is time to cast your vote!

Help us get 250 votes and we could win at $250,000 grant via the Mission Small Business contest, help us turn our dream into a reality!

We are planning on using our grant on several really awesome purposes:

• Investing in expanding our manufacturing capabilities
• Increasing our storage space and washing area
• Investing in more sewing machines
• Setting up a store front

All this means more local employment and MORE billboards saved from landfill!

Go to: www.missionsmallbusiness.com

Vote for FIRST WORLD TRASH, NYC, LONG ISLAND CITY

A HUGE  thank you from team First World Trash XX

Having just read the Care 2 article (check our facebook for the link) about E waste, it got us thinking: How much do we actually throw away every year?

And where does it all go?

Obviously we have thought about this before, and here at FWT HQ we are super on it with our recycling and re-purposing..but there are some things we can’t do anything about. Makes us a bit mad.. but that’s ‘the way it is’…it has been decided.

GreenerGadets.org promotes the re furbishing of computers, rescuing them from landfill, to then be donated to a developing country (I have a problem with the words ‘developing’ and ’3rd world’.. but that is for another post).

So I will leave you with the thought: what do I NEED, how can I re use? and if I don’t.. where does it all end up? And who deals with it then?..

Using and recycling can come in many forms, and we LOVE  these!

We have just read on Daily Good about 2 film makers who are building a boat to take down the Hudson (33rd most polluted river in the US), and make a film about it.

Filming will begin on Sept 2012. One of the participants, Bowthorpe, will have a week to collect materials and a week to build the 10-foot boat before towing it behind his bicycle 400 miles to Lake Tear of the Clouds. The team is also working with the Hudson River Foundation to meet the people along the river who act as its guardians. “In each community there’s people that look after their locality, and it’s important for us to be connected to them right from the start,” Bowthorpe says.

And this great adventure reminds us of our favourite Artists: Swoon. She is an established street artist, with beautiful paste up’s being her main medium.

However she has also taken to sea.

Miss Rockaway Armada, 2006

Swoon is a founding member of the art collective the Miss Rockaway Armada. A group of about 30 artists, performers and musicians who traveled down the Mississippi River the summers of 2006 and 2007 on rafts made from scavenged and recycled materials found in New York City. Starting in Minneapolis, the rafts journeyed to St. Louis, making stops along the way to stage performances.

Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea, 2008

In the summer of 2008 she presented a two-part exhibition with Deitch Projects called Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea. It was a large installation inside the Deitch Studios space as well as a journey of seven handmade sculptural wooden rafts from Troy, NY down the Hudson River and up the East River in New York City, ending at the Deitch Studios gallery. Every night the crew would stage a performance on the banks of the river, with musical accompaniment from the band Dark Dark Dark.

Swimming Cities of Serenissima, 2009

Swoon and a crew of 30 crashed the 2009 Venice Biennale with “the Swimming Cities of Serenissima,” a performance project similar to the Miss Rockaway Armada and the Swimming Cities of the Switchback Sea. The crew sailed from Slovenia in rafts made of New York City garbage, as well as one raft made from material scrapped along the coast of Slovenia. The project stopped at various points on the way to meet the locals, collect artifacts for their on-board “cabinet of curiosities” and to prepare for the culminating performance entitled, “The Clutchess of Cuckoo.” Once in the Venice Lagoon, the rafts and their company performed throughout Venice nightly and docked at Certosa Island. They “barnstormed” the Grand Canal at 3:00 a.m.

Inspiring or what?…

Today is Spring Equinox, the first day of Spring!

Here at First World Trash head quarters we are thrilled to be welcoming warmer days, and are planning a little celebration.

We will be serving roasted root vegetables, and here is one of our favourite receipies (if you have any to share email them into us and we can get them on the blog!)

Serves: 4

• 1 kg (2¼ lb) root vegetables, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, swede and kohlrabi
• 225 g (8 oz) shallots or pickling onions
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
• few sprigs of fresh thyme
• few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary to garnish (optional)