Green Options

From our friends at ZapRoot this week: Arizona tests artificial CO2 filtering trees. Sarah Palin loves oil. We help you find ways to get rid of your junk mail.

Earlier this week I posted A By-the-Numbers Look at Paper Recycling. I posed the question of whether or not individual efforts to recycle paper adds up to an amount that can actually save trees.

As I researched some numbers to identify how much paper comes from one tree, I inadvertently kept a singular focus on corporate environments and office paper. It wasn’t until I later caught a reminding glimpse of the stack of magazines sitting on the night table next to my bed that I realized where, perhaps, the true impact lies: periodicals.

The simplified look at how much office copy paper it takes for one person to save a tree in one year is 33 sheets of paper per day. I figure that’s unreachable, at least for me, because I am selective about how much I avoid printing things unnecessarily — emails and other documents.

But magazines and newspapers — there are dozens and hundreds of pages per issue.

After their well-received Green issue, Knit.1 Magazine continues to bring the classic art of knitting to thousands of younger purl pursuers. I must admit, the publication is a personal favorite of mine and I have been subscribed since the beginning. Each issue has a theme, and the Winter 2007 theme is Time - an integrative part of all of our lives and the craft of knitting itself. Here is a brief glimpse at what editor Adina Klein has to say in her editor’s letter for the issue:

In this age of I-want-it-NOW, taking the time to make something with your own two hands is priceless. In this issue we have included projects that take, literally, minutes to make, as well as projects that are well worth all the time and effort you put into them. Whether you choose to whip up the key chains on page 59 or create the fabulous flapper dress on page 30, you are making a statement about the importance of art, beauty and individuality just by picking up your needles and hooks. Often in our daily struggle to get things done faster, better, cheaper, we forget the value of taking the time to do things that are important to us.

What else will this slightly holiday themed issue have to offer? Here is a run-down of some of the Winter 2007 features:

PIECING TOGETHER MORE TIME
Shannon Okey finds ways to make every moment on the needles count.
KNIT-TINI TIME
Vickie Howell investigates: Where does Pink Martini frontwoman China Forbes rank knitting on the list of life’s most important things?
A KNITTING TIMELINE
Leigh Witchel’s almanac charts the most important dates in knitting history.
TWO-TIMERS
Reversible knitting—it’s not just for garter stitch anymore. Charlotte Quiggle presents your primer.