Image from Fibrepalooza

In December a question came in from Kathleen asking “I’d like your input about yarns. What types of yarns should I be looking for other than merino, and how do I know if the dyes are environmentally friendly?”

Being the resident knitter here at The Greenists, Allie passed the question onto me. It required me to do some research on the subject because, despite being a knitter, I’m still green but not yet green.

The short answer to the question is pretty similar to the answer to most green questions: go local. Using locally sourced yarn, from local sheep, alpacas, etc supports local farmers. But I wanted a more complete answer than “go local” so I did some research.

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My friend Jeff e-mailed me with the following:

I just paid $54 to get six PCs and two boxes of cables, boards, peripherals, etc. dating back to the 80′s properly recycled.  This after stripping the PCs of reusable parts and flattening a ton of no-longer needed packaging.  I’m making progress in reclaiming my basement, but I still have two leftovers from my efforts:  stacks of CD/DVDs and 3-1/2″ disks.  Can you tell me the RIGHT thing to do with these?  Has anybody ever come up with anything besides coasters for CD/DVDs?

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Audrey writes:

Thanks for posting my tip Allie.

Now I have a question for you. Since I’ve banned bleach from my house I don’t know what to use to clean the basket of my coffee maker. I’ve always just soaked it in bleach solution and it came up clean as a whistle. I’ve now tried soaking it in dishwashing soap with baking soda and scrubbing it with a brush – no good. Any ideas greatly appreciated!

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Brenda writes:

 

Hi Allie–

I recently moved to another state and discovered they have Wegman’s here, which I am overjoyed about!  When I went today, I brought along my reusable grocery bags BUT soon realized that this Wegman’s likes for the customer to weigh their own produce and stick a price label on it…many items required me to put them in a plastic produce bag in order to get the price sticker on there.  I thought it was such a waste of plastic (not to mention the materials for the extra large price sticker that gets printed).  Do you have any suggestions on what I can use to hold my produce in at the grocery store?  I need something that I can easily attach and remove a price sticker.

Thanks!

Brenda

Here’s what I suggest.

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Hey Allie,

I have a question for you. I decided to trade all my (poisonous) water bottles in for the aluminum Sigg bottles. But what do I do with the old water bottles? Can I recycle them? That seems kind of counter-productive to trying to help the environment. Help!

-NPW

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Baltimore Bliss asks:

“It would be great if you could post on the safest tampon choice. I started a discussion about this at the crazysexylife site and people are pretty confused. Let me know if you have any insight into this question.”

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In comments, Nicole asked:

What about a good and green way to prevent mold from growing in a sad little bathroom without any fans and a very, very tiny window? Or a green way to clean the existing mold from walls, shower curtain liner, tub, toilet, etc? It’s driving me crazy!! Read more…

In comments, Doris Turner asked:

I am looking for 100 bulbs to award families at our elementary school for signing a pledge to take plastics and paper to the recycle center. Where can I buy them inexpensively?

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Last week in comments, Corinne asked the following:

I’m wondering if you have any eco-friendly ideas for freshening up a smelly basement. We have two cats and although we scoop their litter daily and have a dehumidifier in the basement, it still stinks! I would like to do yoga down there, but I can’t stand that “basement smell”. Any ideas? Read more…

Dear Allie:

For all of us chocolate lovers, is Endangered Species Chocolate really all the “cause” it’s cracked up to be?  If so, I know where to get my chocolate fix!

~Mindae

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