Give mother earth a break: upcycle something old into something new to you.
Santa Barbara's biggest Flea Market -- held annually during the first weekend in May -- gives you the chance to upcycle everything from art to clothes to goods of all sort. Held in Montecito (5 minute drive from Santa Barbara) at the Music Academy of the West, May Madness features clothes, furniture, art, kitchen wares.... well you name it, its there at rock bottom prices. While rummaging don't forget to check out the Treasure House -- filled with antiques and fine collectibles.
One Percent for the Planet: The Weekend Hippie Way
When I conceptualized Weekend Hippie it was Yvon Chouinard’s 1% for the Planet model I had in mind, but on an individual scale. If my friends, and family, and distant friends, and future friends and supporters of Weekend Hippie could just give 1% of their time….it could really make a difference for them, and for mother earth.
When Chouinard hatched his brilliant idea, 1% For The Planet, in 2002, he asked corporations and non-profits to give 1% of their annual sales to environmental groups around the world. Just 1% was all he asked. Years later we can see how it has all added up: Chouinard’s 1% for the Planet now has nearly 1300 hundred business members worldwide that give 1% of their annual sales to just under 2000 environmental groups. One percent can make a difference.
And that’s how you can be a Weekend Hippie. Dedicate just 1% of your time, your life, to making a difference. Go ahead, make a small statement—change your light bulbs, wear TOMS shoes, give a micro loan to a Kiva entrepreneur, travel eco-mindfully, shop at your local farmers’ market, pick-up Patagonia clothes made from recycled plastic or an organic cotton t-shirt from Weekend Hippie! It works. Each small statement adds up… It is not important what you do: just do!
Want to join Chouinard’s 1% for the Planet, here’s how you can help.
For you—and your friends, and their friends—that 1% will add up
pretty quickly, and eventually you’ll find yourself living the Weekend
Hippie lifestyle not just 1% of the time, but 100%. The Weekend Hippie way!
Antique Pharmacy Jar: Now Holds Sea Glass as an Art Piece
Moving on Up. Give Throwaways a Second Life
Old to New. Take your well-worn, destined for the dumpster discards, and give them a second life. Transform an item’s colorful history, its varied back-story, its one of a kind persona into a masterpiece—whole or by parts. Save it from a long life at the land ill. Upcycle It!
Coined by William McDonaugh and Michael Braugart in their book, “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things”, upcycling in the simplest terms is taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something new. It’s a sustainable practice that should happen weekly, if not daily. But what does it mean to you—to me—in our daily lives. How do we upcycle? How to we practice cradle to cradle to make a more sustainable future. Follow these simple tips:
Buy Upcycled Items
You won’t find what you need in your local Home Depot (you shouldn’t shop at Big Boxes anyway), so you’ll have to expend a little elbow grease to find a short list of upcycled items. But it’s worth the hunt from both a utilitarian perspective as well as the evolving the back-story of your new find. Before you purchase an item, look for an item that is equal in functionality but created from the parts of something old.
When was the last time you took a breath? A deep, satisfying, the weight-of-the-world-is-not-on-me-breath? You wake up to start your daily routine. Feed the dog, the cat. Take the kids to school. Take yourself to work. Work. Work. Work. Eight hours later, you fill the tank with gas, pick up the kids, feed the dog, feed the cat, feed the kids, yourself. Tuck everyone in for a good night's rest. Pay the bills, and on and on....and on.
But when do you breathe? When do you sit down, pull in all the air around you, push it deep, deep into your inner being, and then, and only when totally satisfied, and in a slow, methodical fashion, push it all out; clear your lungs, your mind? Aah, feel the satisfaction, that sense of relief, of pleasure.
That's what I did this morning. At Butterfly Beach. A pristine, sun-soaked stretch of sand in Santa Barbara. At 6:30 am, during a great minus tide where the water pulls back into the sea leaving the sand and all its remnants; exposing all sorts of flotsam and jetsam: broken shells, flattened stones, and, my favorite, colorful sea glass.
One for One. TOMS gives shoes to children around the world who have no shoes. It’s that simple. For every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS gives a pair to a child in need.
Founded by Blake Mycoskie and inspired by an Argentine shoe (they call Blake the Chief Shoe Giver), TOMS gave 200,000 pairs of shoes to children across the United States, South African Argentina last year.
Once your closet is stock full of TOMS easy to wear canvas slides, you can volunteer for one of TOMS Shoe Drops, an opportunity for you to travel on location to provide shoes and other support to kids in need.
The styles are hippie cool. Pick up a pair today at local surf and skate shops, or order online.
Welcome to Weekend Hippie: forays into realistic ways to live sustainabily in our busy modern world...because good food and a happy earth are good for everyone.
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Weekend Hippie Tees
Weekend Hippie T-shirts! 100% organic cotton, pressed by hand in Santa Barbara. $20. Shop
