Saturday, October 3, 2009

The "Vow NOT to Recycle" GIVEAWAY!!

10/19/08 Update-- This is just a quick one to let you know that the giveaway has officially come to a close! As it turns out I'm actually away on a yoga photo shoot out of town, but... if I get a chance I will draw winners & do a post on a break or something! If that doesn't work out, I will do it as soon as I return! :)

GOOD LUCK to you all and THANK YOU SO MUCH for supporting my little enviro-giveaway!


I LOVED seeing all the wonderful ideas and support of reusing!!!!

For all those lovely souls who've been following and know me, I'm sure you're wondering (and possibly a bit irate)...

WHAT?!?! Did she really just say "vow NOT to recycle?!" Well, yes, I did. And I'll get to that in a just a wink, but first... I'm bursting to share this... just yesterday I met with a gallery owner and it is confirmed that I am having another gallery showing. BUT, not just another gallery showing... I'm actually the SHOWCASED ARTIST for this one!!!! I can barely believe it and I'm soooo grateful and... just... humbled by my good fortune. I know very talented artists who have waited 10, 15 years for a showcase show, so I'm NOT taking this lightly! But, more on that in a post soon... that is not what this post was scheduled to be, I just couldn't help burst a little... :))

I've promised lots of wonderful people another Giveaway and right now, I'm delivering on that promise... So... the "Vow Not to Recycle" Giveaway:

You're probably thinking that's a pretty shocking statement for one who so openly professes to love the enviroment... one who dedicates her photography (and some of its proceeds) to protecting nature... one who has named this very blog "Beholden to Nature!"

And I answer, unashamedly, YES! I did say that. And yes, I AM holding a givewawy of 3 of my photographs that *requires* you to take a vow not to recycle in order to enter!!

So... what's the deal with that?? Here's the deal... This stems back to my wonderful days of teaching environmental science at Outdoor Science School.

The awareness I'm looking to heighten with this giveaway is that recycling *is* good...
But REUSING is better, FAR BETTER!

What I'm asking of you, is to vow NOT to recycle *when Reusing* is a viable option. In other words, yes it is good if you recycle all those bottled water bottles, much better than adding them to a landfill... or to the Texas-sized garbage heap of mostly plastic that is currently floating in our oceans. BUT, recycling all those bottles still requires a lot of energy use, and does release some chemicals into our enviroment in the process.

So... the BEST thing to do for our environment is to SKIP bottled water (and all manner of other "disposables") all-together! Buy a filter for your faucet or your fridge (the fridge variety cost less than $20, and even with the cost of replacing cartridges SAVES money vs bottled water). But more than saving money... it saves lots and lots of plastic water bottles. And when you go somewhere, take your water with you in a stainless steel bottle, like a klean kanteen. As if saving money and the environment weren't reason enough, add your health into the picture. Plastics really are bad for you and really do leech into your water-- that's why, when the bottle gets warm, your water tastes all "plasticy." I can tell you, that does not happen with these... they're made with food-grade stainless steel.

You can look at your daily routine and come up with MANY ways to reuse instead of recycle/dispose... a towel instead of a paper towel, reusable containers instead of plastic bags for storage, etc...

Big fan of your morning Starbucks... or Peet's... or (insert favorite coffee shop here)? Take your own mug! Many of the chains offer a whole line... or you can get one at just about any store. Also, most coffee shops will charge you less per cup if you bring your own mug to fill-- good coffee shops DO reward us for caring about the environment.

I'd LOVE to have this turn into a discussion too-- offer up your ideas for ReUsing instead of throwing things into those garbage or recycle bins!


The Giveaway details...
∆∆∆ What's up for grabs? 3 photographs from my shop (your choice, up to 8x12). Only one photograph will be allowed per winner, if you win twice, another winner will be chosen.

∆∆∆ How do you enter?
≈VOW to ReUse (instead of recycle or throw-away, whenever possible). *Required to Enter*
To do this, simply leave a comment on my blog, stating your vow to reuse. Basically, it's the honor system, and you get the good or bad effects of your own truth or lie. :)

≈Become a follower of my little blog here (also required to enter).

The following are not required, but highly encouraged, and each will earn you an additional entry ;)
≈Blog about this giveaway

≈Subscribe to my monthly mailing list (just email me at kennafosterphotography@gmail.com and ask to be added to the newsletter).

≈Follow me on twitter
≈Become a fan of my brand new facebook fan page
≈Post this button into the sidebar of your blog (or on your webpage, myspace, or Facebook).




**Please leave comments on this blog post indicating each of the things you did (and include a link, if applicable) to get credit for your appropriate number of entries.

Entries will be accepted until... midnight (Pacific time) on Sunday Oct. 18th!
HAVE Fun with this and GOOD LUCK! :)

33 comments:

Sylvia said...

Yes, understood. That's an excellent idea. I've learned it with a brazilian teacher around 2000. She made wonderful art with her pupils, reusing day-to-day materials.

Tiffany said...

I am such a non-recycler, at my school I have been known to salvage perfectly good reusable stuff from the recycling bin itself. In fact, I have certain brown-nosing tree hugging students who bring their recyclables to me, rather than putting them in the bin! (-:

I'm already a follower and an etsy hearter, and if I twittered or facebooked, I'd spread the love there too. I'd be absolutely thrilled to win this giveaway! (-: I love the one for your mother. And the lightning... and now I better go find out which other print I'll choose when I win. LOL! (-;

Kenna Elizabeth said...

Tiffany, of course! This is sooo "you." :) Good to "see" you again... loved the bit about your "certain brown-nosing tree hugging students!" ha! And I'm so glad to see so many teachers spreading the example to our youth-- I really enjoyed my OSS days of that!

Hey... I'm so grateful for the support and I fully believe you'd spread the love on twt or fb. :) Thank you!!
Must clear one thing--I dont' want you to be mislead dear.
The giveaway's designed to have 3 winners-- 1 photo per winner, ya know, I have to spread the love too. :)

SuperMOM said...

We love to try to do that at our home!! One of my favorites is, we got a bunch of those glade glass candles that were in three hights..the ones you melt the little tart in...Well we had a BUNCH of them, and I didn't want to throw them out, but we didn't need all that we had, so ...we turned them UPSIDE down and used them for center pieces with potpori, and fun things all summer....They are even great for the boys to put Treasures in to watch at dinner time and then let go after! Lady bugs, Rocks, grass, flowers...gave us great things to talk about...I guess we can do it in the winter with the SNOW and watch it melt (giggle)

Linda Kish said...

I do vow to reuse if able to rather than recycle.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

TopHat said...

We do this all the time- mostly with plastics that our city doesn't accept for recycling. I use yogurt containers and other plastic containers for my daughter's toys and my craft supplies like beads and buttons. I cut up T-shirts over the weekend to make yarn and the scraps from that will be filling for stuffed toys for my daughter. :)

hrfarley at gmail dot com

Kenna Elizabeth said...

LOVE it! Keep those ideas coming. :)

Mary said...

I vow to reuse... the last days of school I always snatch up unwanted items that are in perfectly good condition!

maryrich4@yahoo.com

gh said...

This is great, Kenna! Congrats on the showcased artist too. thats awesome and you are well worthy of it. hoping it goes really well.
great thoughts about NOT recycling. I'm always using things again, drink water from tap and /or filtered pitchers. I really don't like bottles all over the place anyway.
We are also getting into the habit of bringing a canvas tote bags with us to the supernmarket to carry our stuff home instead of using their plastic bags.
Great post, and an exciting giveaway.

Rebecca Anne said...

Major Congrats on the gallery showcase, I know what that can do for your work!
Well deserved~
As for the giveaway, I can easily do that because we already do in our house! Yay for fridge filters! I also follow your blog, and I'm a fan on facebook and I was all those things before I knew they would help me win something amazing!

Anonymous said...

I vow to re-use! It's one of my main philosophies in life. I love secondhand shopping for clothes, household items, jewelry... I rarely buy things that are new (unless for sanitary reasons, like toiletries, soap etc).

malibu.bunny.xo@live.ca

Anonymous said...

I follow your blog :)
malibu.bunny.xo@live.ca

Anonymous said...

I just subscribed to your monthly mailing list!
malibu.bunny.xo@live.ca

Anonymous said...

I follow you on Twitter!
malibu.bunny.xo@live.ca

Anonymous said...

We are trying not to recycle! So far we stopped getting bottled water and bought a water filter. I vow to reuse!

Ruth Sandra said...

I Vow to REUSe as much as I can - especially when it comes to Water Bottles. I am using Stainless Steel and Glass Bottles for Water, Tea and Coffee that I carry with me! I found a Stainless Steel insulated coffee mug that I carry with me in my suitcase or bag when I am out and going to coffee shops! It is so great - I rarely use a disposable cup anywhere any more and the drinks taste so much better. Most places let me use my own bottles and mug when I buy drinks. I have reusable jars and bottles in my cupboards that I can use for storage instead of buying containers. I rarely use a paper towel - have cloth towels and handmade scrubbies (I make them myself).

I am already a follower of this blog and on twitter. Beholden To Nature is in my blogroll on my blog!!

I make things in cotton to replace disposable items!

Thanks Kenna for doing this and promoting REUSE!!

Ruth Sandra said...

Put Kenna's Giveaway picture in my blog sidebar - on the left - just above the Widget for the "Break the Bottled Water Habit"!!

Qxela said...

i really like and support the idea of reusing stuff..haha..i actually hate throwing stuff away and tend to keep them and try to use them for something later on..hahaha

followed your blog as well.:)

would love to win one of your lovely photographs.:)

Roxy said...

i am already a re-user. It saves me a ton of money!

hockiemack at hotmail.com

Annette Tait said...

congratulations on your gallery showcase!
and thank you for this give away (I'm in Scotland - is that fine?)
love your photos! and Strrretch is in my treasury just now, lapping it up!
I have always re-used my whole life and recyle only those things that cannot be re-used further.
I only use rechargeable batteries, water filters, thermos flasks, plastic containers for daily lunches, socks - I cut the worn feet out and re-use the perfectly warm top bit on another sock base (I use Norwegian hand knitted socks and the bases last for eons!) and I also re-use postage stamps that haven't been franked, tissue/wrapping paper that is still clean/unmarked, I never buy decorations I have lots and they are re-used and sometimes given a new life. I re-use my flannelette bed sheets as fleece filled snuggle mats for my rescue rabbits and I re-use my constant nagging (advice :) on helping the environment and supporting rescue animals all day long to everyone! whew!! :)
(I could go on... :)

Kenna Elizabeth said...

heh heh heh, Annette, too funny about reusing your advice!

I'm LOVING this! You guys have some fantastic ideas and I'm sooo glad to see how much you all care about this! :))

Wendi P said...

I vow to reuse. We do much of that at home these days. In fact, it makes me feel bad when I am unable to think of something else to use an item for.

Kei said...

I vow to re-use. My daughter keeps reminding me: reuse, reduce and recycle.

dpc0ntest at yahoo.com

Kei said...

Just wanted to let you know that I added your contest to doubleprizes.com and hopefully more people find your blog.

http://doubleprizes.com/contests/719

dpc0ntest at yahoo.com

L. J. Lowe said...

I vow to reuse! I always try to reuse whenever possible. It saves me money!

L. J. Lowe said...

Blogged about the giveaway here: http://convenientlysimplistic.blogspot.com/2009/10/bloggy-giveaways-40-gift-certificate.html

L. J. Lowe said...

Following you on Twitter http://twitter.com/QTPieCrafts

L. J. Lowe said...

I'm a fan on FB http://www.facebook.com/lesa.mcmahon

L. J. Lowe said...

Added the special button to my blog. http://convenientlysimplistic.blogspot.com/

Painter Mommy said...

I am now a follower of your blog. Your post really got me thinking about how I re-use things in our home. My mom is a huge recycler / re-user. She taught me how to re-use plastic bags, foil, and even paper towels. I have bee working hard at doing this. But I do vow to do my best and continue in my mom's foot steps. I really love the idea of getting a re-usable water bottle. I have been re-using those plastic ones, but I think I really need to get a nice water bottle. You have inspired me. :)

Well, I do appreciate the great giveaway.

Thanks, DAWN
Dawn@PainterMommy.com

Painter Mommy said...

I am now a fan on your Facebook page as Dawn Papandrea Khan

Painter Mommy said...

I would like to follow you on Twitter, but I could not find the link on your sidebar. I could totally be missing it. But if you want to follow me. I am @PainterMommy. :)

DAWN

Kenna Elizabeth said...

Ok-- this is just a quick one to let you know that the giveaway has officially come to a close! I apologize, as it turns out I'm actually away on a yoga photo shoot out of town, but... if I get a chance I will draw winners & do a post! If not, I will do it as soon as I return! :) GOOD LUCK to you all and THANK YOU SO MUCH for supporting my little enviro-giveaway! I LOVED seeing all the ideas and support of reusing!!!!