Happy Earth Day!!! I hope you’re enjoying Earth Week as much as I am.
On the kick-off post for Earth Week I gave you an idea for a quick and easy furoshiki. As I’ve said before, I love the furoshiki concept. I love the idea of reducing our waste caused by disposable packaging by using a reusable cloth. If you’ve never tried a wrapping cloth, you should! The possibilities and uses are endless.
I recently was introduced to Furochic, a line of reusable fabric gift wrap inspired by furoshiki, designed by Jenn Playford of Jenny Wren Paperie. I fell in love with her designs and ordered an Elephant Parade wrap (LOVE that color combo!) to add to my furoshiki collection.
I got the wrap in the mail a few days ago and it is gorgeous! The best part of this is Jenn has graciously donated FOUR of her beautiful wraps for me to give away to YOU!!!
I asked her to tell me a bit more about her business and how she started designing her wraps. She explained that she had the idea for fabrics wraps, unaware of the Japanese tradition of furoshiki. When she started doing her research on whether any other company was marketing the idea of wrapping gifts with reusable fabric wrap, she discovered the Japanese tradition. She was inspired by furoshiki and decided to make her wraps the standard 27″x27″ size and to call them Furochic. She is very inspired by Japanese art and design, particularly textile design, so it was a natural fit for her. She has been illustrating for over 10 years (you can see her work at www.magnetreps.com) and each wrap design is one of her own illustrated patterns. Some of her motifs are inspired by Japanese design, others by nature and by her extensive travels. She has a new collection coming out in Fall. Here’s a little sneak peak:
Jenn also just had a book come out called Wrapagami.
It will be available in shops starting in August (and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com), but you can order it as of yesterday on her website!
The book features 25 different wrapping techniques, ideas for reusing your wraps, tips for choosing or making a wrap, a history of Furochic and furoshiki, and gift tips to make your gifts special. I can’t wait to get my hands on it–it looks like a beautiful book! All of my furoshiki books are in Japanese, so it will be nice to add one in English to my collection.
Jenn also has a bunch of great video tutorials available for different wrapping methods (click here).
* The giveaway is now closed. Check back tomorrow to see the winners!!!*
To enter the giveaway I want you to leave me a comment telling me what you are going to do to be more Earth friendly during the coming year. For a second entry in the giveaway, just leave a second separate comment letting me know if you are a Follower or a Subscriber. Make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! I will keep the comments open until Tuesday, April 28th, 10 pm PST, and announce the winners (using a random number generator) on Wednesday, April 29th.
{ 178 comments… read them below or add one }
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First of all I love love love your site and i think this giveaway is fantastic!! I work for a recyling company so i am already quite a bit green… lets just say i take my work home with me… But to make it even better I discovered TerraCycle. You can send your garbage to them and they will pay you for it, and make upcycle it into something new. How awesome is that?? I have already started collecting Kashi boxes (love Kashi) and juice pouches and a bunch of other things to send to them. Anything to keep more trash out of the landfills.
awesomeness all around!!
Jenn
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wow those prints are awesome! we have been turning our computer off at night instead of letting it run overnight. we just started about a month ago and we can not wait to see how much we are saving!
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This year, the missus and I are starting to use the bento lunch boxes to bring our lunches to work in, and I am trying very very hard to reduce the amount of plastic we use overall. (We got rid of plastic bottles all together over a year ago.)
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We are using reusable plastic containers for our sandwiches instead of plastic baggies.
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I’ve decided to grow a garden in the yard this coming year, refrain from drinking water out of plastic containers and use more candlelight :)
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I made several coffee shops change their 50wts light bulbs for led ones that only spend a 1wat each saving them over £400 per month and also helping to save the planet too…cheers…xx :)
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I’m giving up bottled water. I just need to find a tasty alternative. I already got an engraved silver Kleen Kanteen from my mother last night, so I’m on my way!
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I’m a follower
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oooh, lovely :)
i’m using reusable bottles instead of the disposable water bottles and i’m using the light-bulbs that are supposed to reduce energy output.
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This year I am trying to use less paper reducing the number of prints at work and the number of paper towels at home. Next Christmas I would like to reduce the quantity of wrapping paper for gifts so these wraps would be perfect to help me achieve this goal. Thanks!
paula_lemos at vodafone dot pt
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I am a subscriber!
paula_lemos at vodafone dot pt
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Our family has been walking everywhere for 2 years, using reusable bottles and bags, recycling etc… We plan to start composting this year and growing some of our own vegetables. Thanks for the giveaway. mybabyappleseed(at)yahoo(dot)ca
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we are using totes when shopping and we stopped buying water bottle and have a collection of reusable water bottles
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This is my second entry…and I have been a logtime follower and a new subscriber. You have inspired me so! j
jennifer_vinson@hotmail.com
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Awesome giveaway!
I try to walk as often as possible, and will be eating a lot more local stuff once the warm weather comes.
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i am trying to be better about remembering our bags when we go everywhere! i have been leaving htem in the car which really helps!
elkesten at yahoo dot com
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those are absolutely gorgeous! what a great idea! :) love the fabric patterns…heck, i would make clothes out of it :)
i’ve been thinking about what to change to be more green for the upcoming year. i think the big thing i need to tackle is to me more diligent about packaging…drink cups, takeout containers. to do this, i need to make sure i always have a few things stashed in my bag: reusable mug, spork, fabric napkin. and, i need to pack my lunches better so i won’t have to buy lunch at the cafeteria. this involves being organized and meal planning. so much better financially and health-wise too though. working on it!
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I love furoshiki! This year, I am committed to stop using paper towels and instead will use a pile of lush microfiber towels. So far so good!
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I’m a follower–Your blog was a lifesaver for me when I lived in Japan last year!
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I’m going to always bring bags to the grocery store! (or try) -monica-
rideit4@comcast.net
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I love this idea! Fabric gift wrap would be something I would love to use. This year we are going to recycle as much as possible, walk places when we can, and use resuable bags when shopping.
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I shop with my wicker basket from Africa and have started growing my own herbs, so no more plastic herb containers.
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to be more “green” i unplug anything not in use and i also repurpose some items instead of just throwing them away
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I’ve started my greener year already by eating more vegan! It helps that I have some great recipes to draw from Veganomicon. I just wish Brie didn’t taste so darn good.
mightyko at g mail dot com.
p.s. the word verifier says “exesse”. I kid you not.
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I’ll use more my reusable bags.
And thanks a lot for this great giveaway!
My grandmother who is japanese uses furoshiki. But her fabrics are not gorgeous as those from Furochic.
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Hi FM! I’m not entering the contest because I don’t want you to have to ship overseas, but I just LOVE those furoshikis! Wow. How cool is that. Very hip and very chic. I love her designs and think it’s such a creative idea and creative name for her product and book.
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I am growing quite a few things this year and making notes to improve and grow a lot more next year, I try to buy from local farmers when I can, I will start composting hopefully this weekend (I’ve got a bin just need a good place for it) and I recycle as much as I can and am constantly thinking of new ways to recycle old stuff!
Thank you for the giveaway…i think that’s a wonderful earth-fiendly wrapping…no need to waste all that papper!! :)
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My focus this earth day was to eliminate my Phantom Loads from such things as dvd players, computer etc! I will also continue to compost, and garden without chemicals. I may even enjoy mother earth once it stops snowing here in Alberta!!
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we’re adding food composting to our household (we’ve recycled for years). our neighbor offered her extra green cone, so that’s installed and in use!
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This year I am not buying water bottles, I am carrying my water from home with me everywhere. I’ve been doing this for a while now. I also gave up soft drinks, so no cans or bottles going into landfills because of me.
I’m carrying reusable totes everywhere now, too. I’m working on building up a good collection of them. I’m also making more things at home instead of buying them. Less packaging that way, too.
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I will definitely be continuing to recycle always! I also bought a new re-usable steel cannister for my fluids. No more bottles of water! :-)
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I am a brand new follower! I look forward to following your blog!
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I’m in the process of switching all my light bulbs to CFls.
sundaygirl at gmail dot com
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oh yay i love furoshiki they are just great ways to take my lunches with me. but i hve yet to get my hands on one so i hope i can win one from u. they are beautiful these designs.
well….to be more Earth friendly i’ll be more careful to switch off all lights when leaving the room and turn off electronics that are on standby before going to bed…that does save a lot of energy! xx
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*p/s. i’m a follower!!! woop woop
xxx
diva@sugarbar.org or divalim@gmail.com
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Gorgeous wraps! We are packing no-waste lunches and working hard to reuse the few containers we do get (big yogurt tubs, etc)
Thanks! foxsquirrelrabbit at gmail dot com
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I am line drying all my laundry.
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I am a subscriber.
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We have done much to ‘green’ over our lives, but the latest change has been unplugging as much as possible.
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I am going to try to turn off more appliances while their not in use this year. I love the Furochic idea.
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What a super great idea!
I am allready a fallower.
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I’m composting and gardening a lot more, as well as trying to buy local produce / meats / food products. And trying to use less water as there is a shortage in California :(
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I am going to invest in a shower time!
dreamzz12{at}aol{dot}com
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We no longer use water bottles. We bought a water cooler.
I love these wraps, so incredible!
♥ Jen
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Great giveaway!
I’ll recycle more than I do. I’m really concerned about the earth problems.
fairy_lizz@hotmail.com
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I follow :D
fairy_lizz@hotmail.com
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Being even more economical in my electricity and gas usage, recycle as much as I can etc.
lovelylittledeer at hotmail dot co dot uk
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I recently started putting all of my waste paper aside at work and then taking it home with me to recycle since we don’t have any system in place in my office.
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Those are so cute! Such great patterns! >‿‿<
My husband and I recently bought a manual grass cutter instead of a gas powered mower. Helps the environment AND saves us money! YAY! haha ^‿‿^
LOVE this blog! One of my favorite stops <3
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I follow! <3 ◕‿‿◕
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