It's that time of year again!

Strathcona's newest mural at  Eco Apparel, Franklin St.

The Strathcona BIA is currently accepting applications for the 2011 mural program.

Do you own a building in Strathcona that is situated in a highly visible location? Do you want to brighten up our community while deterring graffiti? If so, you may be the perfect candidate for one of our murals.

Over the past few years, the SBIA has proudly sponsored more than ten beautiful murals throughout Strathcona. Visit our sustainability website to see our existing murals and learn how your building could be the next one to receive this artistic makeover. http://www.strathconagreenzone.com/murals.

Green Zone

Anthony Muscardin doesn't like waste. The owner and operator of Pace Fabrics, a decoration textile wholesale and distribution business, reuses his scrap paper several times over and lights his warehouse with older generation power-smart light fixtures he saved from another business's renovation project.

"You know what-I don't know why it's so important to me, but you think about something like a pile of plastic bottles floating in the ocean that's the size of Vancouver Island-it seems ridiculous to me. If each of us were to save one plastic bottle, the pile would be smaller. If each of us didn't throw a piece of paper in the garbage, there would be less paper in the garbage."

His aversion to discarding perfectly good items had consequences, however: a mountain of fabric sample books that no longer reflect current styles.

"Ours is a fashion industry, and fashions come and go; some of them will be discontinued, and they're no longer valuable to our business, so they can become valuable to someone else."

But Muscardin just didn't have the leisure to seek out someone who had a use for small books of fabric, and the discontinued pile kept growing. After several years, it took up so much space that it began to interfere with his ability to display current fabrics to his customers, and he resigned himself to putting them in the garbage after all.

Then, at last year's Annual General Meeting, he heard SBIA Sustainability Coordinator Sophie Agbonkese making a plug for the new Resource Exchange program, a network that offers SBIA members opportunities to reduce waste by giving it to other members, Strathcona residents, and local artists. He called her up, and she incorporated a stack of his books into a Green Zone Connects networking event for artists and BIA members. The event was a success, and Agbonkhese herself found the fabrics so inspiring that she decided to learn how to sew, purchasing her first sewing machine and making Christmas stockings for her family.

Artists at the SBIA Resource Exchange Networking Event

Last month, the SBIA collected the remaining fabric samples from Muscardin's warehouse. The office reached out to artists, quilters, sewers, crafters, and schools. People responded, and so far, they've taken over 720 kg of fabrics to use in creative projects. And diverting the material has done more for him than to ease his conscience about unnecessary waste. He's decided to seek a tenant for the emptied space. "By removing all the samples, it lets us see our space; we show our samples better, and prospective tenants can see the space better."

Using the Waste Exchange has been a valuable experience for Anthony Muscardin, and he would encourage other SBIA members to do the same. "Basically, because we're running to keep up, if I had to divert my attention from my business, it wouldn't be reasonable. This allows me to be able to recycle without compromising my ability to survive."

The SBIA office has asked people and organisations who've taken fabrics to keep in touch about their progress and projects. We'll be posting updates from time to time, so you can look forward to seeing the exciting results of this recycling/ reusing collaboration.

If you would like more information about the Waste Exchange, please contact Sophie. And we still have some books of fabric samples; if you have a use for them, just contact Rachel or Sophie and arrange a time to pick them up.

"Baguettes" made from reclaimed fabric samples.

Neighbourhood artist Marie was one of the recipients of our salvaged samples. Over the past month, she's been busy cutting funky fabrics and combining them with leather reclaimed from chairs that'd also been destined for the landfill. She's even given some of her pieces a waterproof lining by reusing the plastic covers from the fabric sample books. She calls her mini-wallets "Baguettes," and you'll soon be able to buy them on her site: http://stemandwing.wordpress.com/.

Resource Exchange

Save money on purchase and disposal costs by exchanging materials with other BIA members.

Here's a sample of the current listings on the exchange:

Available: Repurposed Soap & Shampoo (free)

Wanted: 2 or 3 small to medium desks (will pay up to $75 each)

Wanted: Bookshelf (price negotiable)

Available: Golden coloured tanned Elk and Deer Hides ($5-5.75 per sq ft.)

Check out the Strathcona Resource Exchange at http://exchange.strathconagreenzone.com and start exchanging materials today!

Redefining Wastes as Resources 

Do you know which processes in your business are creating the most waste? Are you interested in learning new strategies for reducing and redirecting your waste while decreasing your environmental impact and costs?

We will walk through your business and help you identify opportunities for easy waste reduction strategies. We will also identify positive steps that you've already taken toward greening your business and make recommendations for how you can participate in the Resource Exchange.

Contact us by April 20, 2011 to sign up for a complementary resource review.