Farmers Market at Benjamin Davis

South Lansing Community Development Association will be sponsoring a farmer's market on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 6 through September 26, 2009 at Benjamin Davis Park.

If you are interested in selling your items on any particular day or for the entire season, please contact Catie at catie@southlansing.org to get the application forms.

Vendors need to be licensed when they sell prepared food, so anything cut or cooked would need to be done in a licensed facility. A great resource for regulations is the MIFMA website: http://www.farmersmarkets.msu.edu/

Make your own Rain barrel - or buy one May 16th

I'm jealous of the amazing resources available to the residents of Gaithersburg and Rockville, Maryland, through this organization that helps residents harvest their rainwater, build native habitats through their landscaping, and work together as a community toward eco-goals.

One thing they offer is a "make it and take it" day to help folks build their own rain barrels. Here are the instructions if you want to try it yourself.

If you are in the Ingham-Clinton-Eaton areas, you can get a great deal on a rain barrel purchase, Saturday, May 16, 2009 - 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

I think I'm going to melt some plastic

Ew! I know...here I am trying to get rid of plastic things from the house so why am I suggesting this?

Well, I got really inspired by some fabulous fun funky usable art where geeky nerdy science meets crafty goodness aka "instructables."

Here's a fused plastic zipper bag using plastic candy bags from an instructables contributor.

Or this appliqued fused plastic bag from another instructables fan.

You basically take 8 layers of plastic bags, sandwich them between parchment paper, and melt away after you finesse your talent at gaging heat, pressure, and timing the process.

Etsy has a tutorial on this basic process and moon>sun has more details and hints. (How did I not know there was a mass crafter-craving for this knowledge?)

With a little luck and some skill you can end up with something like this quick and lovely "farmer's market bag" from Modern Cottage....

Or this professional quality lined version from Moon > Sun.

And hey, it counts as sustainable under the "reuse" category right? So maybe I'll accidentally forget the reusable market bag so I can get some of the pink and purple plastic bags that merchants use around Easter...

Glass pitchers with sealed lids

In our quest to rid ourselves of plastic we've been without a pitcher for some time now. I have couple lovely pitchers that were grandma's but they don't have lids.

But here is a beautiful one from Lehman's store for simple living in Ohio. This pitcher holds 64 ounces, has an airtight lid, and is even made in the U.S.A. It's $14.95. Check them out for all sorts of great products that don't rely on electricity!!

This 67 ounce slim version is available from Storables stores for $12.95

Cool bags -- More ways to avoid plastic

Make your own re-usable fruit/vegetable bags to take to the grocery store to eliminate even more plastic bag use!!! These are so pretty! I love how they coordinate with the produce.

And this re-usable salad sac is made from 100% cotton to keep your vegies crisp. Seems like it would be an easy sew-it-yourself project too!

And take those old tank tops, sew them at the waist and have a handy-dandy grocery bag to go along with the vegetable bags!