Eco-conscious Artist Finds Cool Ways to Spread the Word!

Peace, love and painting. Make the world a more beautiful place and add some art. I am thinking a lot about this coming Earth Day as I am trying to help my daughter's art teacher come up with some cool projects for Earth Day for preschoolers. I have come up with some great things they can do with recycled egg cartons and also toilet paper rolls. I am also reconsidering the things I use in my own art projects and how to produce even less waste than I already am by finding cool uses for more "throw aways". It's been so much fun and really gets the creativity flowing. I have an awesome book called the Green Guide for Artists and another book that shows several how-to's for re-using and recycling common items for home decor.Those two books really got me thinking that I can also find creative uses for stuff that might otherwise find it's way into the landfill. I am thinking "outside the trashcan" now! Also, anyone interested in these types of home decor items needs to go check out your nearest Marshall's Home Goods store! They have a LOT of eco-conscious housewares that are made in other countries out of recycled materials including a rug fashioned from old sari-scraps (India) and a wire basket threaded with old beer bottle caps and a set of ceramic(naturally non-stick) coated eco-friendly cookware that rivals any of the "professional" cookware I have ever seen. There are organic cotton towels and sheets and rugs and beautiful handmade Buddha statues and I even got a great pillow, hand-embroidered and made from scraps of recycled materials with a globe on the front that says "Stop Global Warming"...I bought it for all of my die-hard Republican friends who swear that our environmental issues and weird weather patterns have NOTHING to do with "global warming". I cannot make them understand that the phrase "global warming refers to the greenhouse gasses and that the result of global warming is extreme fluctuations in weird weather patterns---INCLUDING blasts of cold brought on by changing ocean temps due to the melting polar ice. Hmmm.... I think they are just ashamed to admit a dumb old tree-hugger might have a point!! LOL Anyway, check this place out. It rocks! It satisfied my need to decorate but allowed me to buy stuff that is free trade and eco-conscious as well. I try to stick to my root beliefs whenever I can and still function within the world. Have a wonderful day and please share any other ideas you might have...Thanks!