Podcast – Reclaiming Waters: An Interview with Veronika Mikos on Ghost Farms
. In our latest episode of the Healthy Seas podcast, we dive into the murky waters of ghost farms with Veronika Mikos, the director of Healthy Seas. Ghost farms, a relatively unknown but significant threat to marine ecosystems and coastal communities, are the focus of this insightful conversation. Veronika guides us through the intricacies of what ghost farms are, where they are typically found, and their impact on communities, marine life and ocean pollution. What Are Ghost Farms? Ghost farms refer to abandoned aquaculture or fish farming sites, often left to deteriorate in coastal waters. These sites become environmental hazards, polluting the ocean with debris, and affecting marine ecosystems. The presence of decaying structures abandoned nets, and other industrial waste can harm wildlife and disrupt local communities’ livelihoods. The Impact on Marine Life and Ocean Pollution Veronika discusses the numerous ways in which ghost farms impact marine life. Abandoned nets…
Beach Cleanup with Style: Soso Swim and Healthy Seas Partner for Earth Day Event in LA
On Earth Day, Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles saw a unique blend of fashion, environmental activism, and community spirit. The Healthy Seas Foundation, in collaboration with Soso Swim, organized a beach cleanup event that not only aimed to rid the shoreline of litter but also inspired broader conversations towards ocean conservation. This special event drew a diverse crowd of influencers, followers, and eco-enthusiasts, all united in their mission to make a positive impact. The Special Edition Swimwear for a Cause Soso Swim, a partner of Healthy Seas, designed a limited-edition swimwear collection for this Earth Day event. The collection featured a unique design with the message “For the Earth.” Not only does it look fabulous, but it also serves a greater purpose. All revenue from the sale of this special edition goes directly to the Healthy Seas Foundation to support our projects that tackle marine litter. This swimwear is…
My Family’s Creative Recycling over the Holidays
Let me share some highlights of creative recycling projects by my family members this holiday season: Knitting Socks from Yarn Leftovers My grandmother Rea is a very talented knitter. She is finding it more difficult to knit larger projects these days. She offered her yarn stash to my sister Tracy. Tracy had a great idea which was to knit up the little bits into socks – a pair for each of Rea’s children. She visited Rea many times this year to knit together. Building a Step from Wood Scraps My parents built my sister a new step for her side door using wood scraps from their recent renovations. My dad building a step for my sister’s house with scrap wood Pillow Cover from Upholstery Samples This year, my brother & sister-in-law bought a new home. They got a bunch of upholstery samples when designing their decor. They gave me the…
Sewing “Flat People”
This is a variation on paper dolls. My daughter and I started making these a few years ago and she makes a few more every so often. Here’s the process: Cut out a paper shape of a flat person. We recommend making the head extra large because the hair often goes beyond a head size that matches the body, and you need something to provide a backing for the hair. Cut out the same shape on a scrap of quilt batting or thick backing fabric. Dig through fabric scraps to design the people. Cuts out the shapes and pin them to the flat person shape. The layers are backing, then paper, then colorful fabrics. Sew through all the layers – mostly an outline but ensuring all the small pieces like hair are securely attached. We usually change thread color to match the fabrics, so it can involve a lot of…
T-Shirt Quilt – Everybody’s Got Wings
While Trashmagination is my hobby, my job is as an innovation consultant. My company is Press the Go Button, where I help people build systems in their organizations that will make their products and marketing more innovative. I leverage a methodology called Innovation Engineering to assist my clients. Last June, I attended the Innovation Engineering conference. The conference theme was “Everybody’s Got Wings” because it is the mission of Innovation Engineering to change the world by enabling innovation by everyone, everywhere, every day. Hand-quilted Innovation Engineering Conference t-shirt – conference slogan was “Everybody’s Got Wings” Hand-quilted Innovation Engineering Conference t-shirt At the conference, I got this cool t-shirt and while I loved the design, I didn’t think I would wear it. I decided to hand-quilt it instead and hang it in my home office. The back of the quilt is fabric showing many species of birds, aligned with the “Everybody’s Got…
Maker Faire 2016 in Reston, Virginia
Trashmagination is located in Reston, Virginia and the most exciting maker event each spring is the Nova Mini Maker Faire. In 2014, Trashmagination helped kids make butterflies from recycled milk jugs and “cap-erpillars” from plastic caps. In 2015, Trashmagination brought a Story Loom and had people weave recycled items. This year, I decided to take a break and experience as an attendee. It takes weeks of preparation for such an event, and my business Press the Go Button was very busy this spring, so I’m glad I made this decision. I was surprised when a stranger saw me walking through the faire and said, “Where is Trashmagination? My daughter and I have been looking all over for you!” which was very sweet. Here are my favorite items at this year’s faire: Evolution Glass – Artist Bill Hess has spent 20 years perfecting a way to make glass countertops from recycled…
First Weavings on my Floor Loom
My weaving teacher from the Workhouse Arts Center, Marilyn Harrington, gave me a floor loom more than a year ago. She had received it from a weaving teacher from a middle school when the weaving program ended at the school. She said it is not uncommon for people to give her old looms when their family members pass on. These looms are often in pieces and might even have missing pieces, making it challenging to get them functional again. Luckily in this case, she knew all the pieces were together. She said if I could fit all the pieces in my car, I could have it. Once again, my Honda Fit proved – you can fit anything into a Fit! I was amazed by her generosity and by how the stars aligned for me to actually own a floor loom. Perhaps she could tell after meeting me for only a…
Taiko Crafts from Recycled Plastic Caps and Wine Corks
I love taiko and I love making things from recycled materials. It’s great when these two passions come together!! My taiko group Nen Daiko is very busy getting ready for our summer festival, called Obon, which takes place at Ekoji Buddhist Temple on July 9. Obon is a Buddhist festival to commemorate ancestors. It is also an opportunity to watch amazing taiko, eat delicious Japanese and Hawaiian food and dance traditional community dances. I volunteered to be on the organizing committee because I hoped we could try new things – specifically, I hoped we could offer more creative activities for participants. I was hoping we could have more making at this event! I designed activities from recycled materials for Obon with these goals in mind: ensure the craft designs are in alignment with the cultural aspects of the event use recycled materials to keep costs low (or zero!) use recycled…
Making Handmade Obon Tenugui for Bon Odori Dancing
Another craft that I have developed from recycled materials for the Obon festival at Ekoji Buddhist Temple this July 9 is a tenugui. A tenugui is a small hand towel, 13 inches by 30 inches, made from white cotton typically. We are making ours from recycled bedsheets. I have sewn about 50 so far. My fellow taiko player Dee has ironed most of them, and a wonderful volunteer named Joy made 42 more! My goal is to have about 125 prepared for July 9 – so we are almost there! When I was looking for ideas for creative reuse crafts for Obon, I reviewed websites from other Obon festivals around the world. There is a special dance that people do at Obon called Bon Odori. Everyone dances in a circle around a stage where a taiko player keeps a beat. I noticed that some Obon organizers encouraged people to bring…
Toddler Craft – Basket from Recycled Laundry Cap
For the Obon festival at Ekoji Buddhist Temple, I designed two crafts for younger children from recycled materials. One was this little basket made from recycled laundry caps. These are the caps that you see on the liquid laundry detergent jugs. Have you ever looked at those caps? They are extra large and heavy-duty – and very colorful. Some even have cool shapes. Downy has a cap that looks like a flower, and some Tide caps have spikes on them (so you could use them like a scrubber on stains). I have saved more than 200 laundry caps over the years! I was looking for a way to reduce my stash, so I designed this simple craft. It involves drilling two holes on the side with my new drill press. The kids will then thread large plastic beads on a pipe cleaner, and then thread it into the holes to…