Big changes @ The Green Chair Project, but the Chair keeps on rockin’!

TGCP- Gift Shop

After some deliberation we have decided to take a step back, so to speak, to refocus our efforts on the big picture of the project. In order to do this we plan to temporally close the retail/studio aspect of the project on August 28th and focus our energy on finding key players and funding for the big picture.

We plan to reopen in a location that better suits our needs (higher foot traffic, more space, etc.) and at that point bring together all key elements of our business, including the salvaged material supply aspect. We are very excited to be taking these steps to bring our project to the next level!

Mask Making Workshop, Gasworks Park

During this process we plan to continue our community involvement by hosting WORKSHOPS for adults and children, which teach how to creatively reuse materials that would otherwise go to the landfill. So, if you’d like to participate in this manner please let us know. We are also interested in becoming involved with some of the schools and art programs there – if you have any contacts at schools, we would love to connect!

Please CONTACT US here.

We will continue to enhance our website to bring more green resources, eco-tips, ideas, and projects to the community. We will also maintain the development of the GIFT SHOP page, which we’ll re-initiate upon reopening. Our gift shop page represents each of our local artist’s works with links to each of their bio pages. We have received great feedback from our customers on the artists we’ve selected to showcase in the shop, and plan to continue these relationships upon re-opening in our new location.

"This Chair Rocks" T-Shirt

We feel that with the new developments on the horizon the opportunity to increase awareness of reuse will flourish. We greatly appreciate all of the community support and involvement of all who have contributed to the development of The Green Chair Project – and we look forward to a bright future together!

Please subscribe to our blog (top of page) for future updates.

Visit TGCP Saturday @ Occidental Park

Join us again for Seattle’s new fabulous outdoor market, Seattle Square! You’ll find a wide range of vintage and craft vendors (selling everything from locally designed clothing, to handmade housewares and accessories, to mid-century furniture), fantastic eats from a rotating selection of Seattle’s mobile food vendors, and a live soundtrack hand crafted by a rotating cast of local DJ’s. Bring the family- it’s a great way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon!

WHEN:  Saturday, August 14th

TIME:  11-5

WHERE:  Occidental Park- Pioneer Square, Occidental Ave. S and S Main St.

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Looks like it’s Tuesday –

Which means its time for another tip to live a more Eco-Friendly life style!

Tip #4: Get in the habit of always turning off the lights. Make sure that whenever you or a family member leaves a room they turn off the lights to conserve energy.  Also, try using more natural lighting from skylights and windows during the day.  Along with turning off lights – be sure to unplug other electronics such as chargers, blow driers, flat irons etc. when they are not in use.  Just by being aware of turning off lights and unplugging electronics, you can help make your household a more environmentally friendly place.

ECO TIP TUESDAY!

To make up for last Tuesday, we will post two tips today that advise how to be more green in your day to day life. Each tip is simple, attainable, and will help you lead a more ‘green’ life style.

TIP #2:  Borrow and share things with friends.  If there is an item that you need only temporarily ask a friend if they have it first before purchasing it. Also, sharing things such as books, movies, newspapers and magazines with friends and neighbors assures that less paper and materials get thrown away.

TIP #3: Buy food from local markets. Each pound of local food that you purchase prevents a quarter pound of climate change emissions. Not to mention, slightly reducing the amount of meat in your diet and replacing it with high protein fruits and vegetables helps to reduce carbon monoxide emissions.

Introducing Eco-Tip Tuesday

As a part of our mission and The Green Chair Project’s message, we have decided to start posting tips on Tuesdays advising how to be more eco-friendly in your day to day life!  Whether they involve recycling, creating, restoring, or reusing they are all simple pointers to help you have a positive impact on the environment.  So check our page every Tuesday to find a new innovative way to be green.

Eco-Tip #1: Simplify your belongings.  Only keep the things that you use and enjoy on a daily basis. By doing this you will naturally purchase and throw away less reducing the amount of waste that you produce. And make sure before purchasing  new goods that your purchase will be beneficial to your every day life and not just stored away.

Keep checking for more easy ways to be green on Tuesdays!

Visit us for the “Seattle Square” event at Occidental Park!

Occidental Park

The Green Chair Project is participating in an exciting new Saturday outdoor market called Seattle Square. This is a new approach to outdoor markets and will feature a wide range of vintage and craft vendors (including items such as locally designed clothing, handmade housewares and accessories, and mid-century furniture).  A rotating selection of Seattle’s mobile food vendors will be serving up a variety of fantastic eats set to a live soundtrack, hand crafted by a  rotating cast of local DJ’s.

WHEN: Every Saturday*, July 17th- the end of  September, from 11 am to 5 pm

*The Green Chair Project will be participating on three Saturday’s-  July 17th, August 7th, and August 14th

WHERE: Occidental Park (Pioneer Square) Seattle, Washington 98104

In addition to a wonderful array of food available at the market, many bars and restaurants have signed on to take part in a coordinated Happy Hour from 4pm – 6pm every Saturday!  All you have to do is show proof that you were at the market (with either a receipt or a flyer).  Follow this  link for a list of participating bars and restaurants.

More Seattle Square fun:

• Swag Bag Giveaway: The first 200 people at the Seattle Square on July 17th will receive a swag bag. The swag bags will be filled with free coupons to neighborhood nightclubs, DRY Soda bottles, discount passes to the Underground Tour and more.
• Blogger Contest: Bloggers who write about the Seattle Square will be automatically entered to win a fabulous prize. There are no rules here, just start blogging and you could win.
• Photo Tagging Contest:  After the first market on July 17th, we will be uploading hundreds of photos to Seattle Square’s Facebook page. To enter our contest, market attendees will have to find and tag themselves in a photo. (Stay tuned for prize details!)

Hope to see you there!

Post Art Walk Reflection

First Thursday Art Walk turned out to be a wonderful night full of artwork, community, food and wine.  The Green Chair Project was able to reach out to many Seattle community members by handing out bracelets and sharing our story.  The bracelets we handed out were made from recycled vinyl signs and hand decorated during one of our workshops.  Everyone loved them and after a little while we began referring to them as “Power Bracelets”.  We were very excited to participate in the First Thursday Art Walk and spread The Green Chair Projects message to so many community members – we hope to do it again next month!

Luggage Tag Workshop

The Green Chair Project is hosting another craft night this Wednesday, July 7th! We will be decorating and constructing luggage tags from unwanted architecture samples and other reusable materials, and then donating them to promote The Green Chair Project.

Snacks and supplies will be provided to everyone who would like to participate. So come express creativity and dedication to going green by making these eco-friendly luggage tags! A perfect chance to connect with the community and enjoy art at the same time.

We hope to see you there!

LUGGAGE TAG WORKSHOP
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
7:00pm – 9:00pm
The Green Chair Project Store
1001 NE Boat Street, Seattle
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Glimpse Into First Thursday Art Walk!

Enjoy art? Don’t have any plans this up coming Thursday evening? Come and participate in the First Thursday Art Walk tomorrow in downtown Seattle! Once again, we will be located at the Cherry Street Coffee House featuring ‘green’ artists such as Trilby Made, Otra Vez, and Mr. Jacks Lamp Company. So come enjoy some coffee, music, and inspiring ‘green’ artwork and wares brought to you by The Green Chair Project. Some images of featured work to expect tomorrow include:

Reversible Cuffs – by Trilby Made

Made from recycled leather- these cuffs are fashionable, trendy, and make the perfect ‘green’ accessory.

Dandelion Collection – by Otra Vez

Adorable children’s dresses – made from pillow cases in many different designs.

Lamps - by Mr. Jacks Lamp Company

Beautiful lamps made from recycled materials and glass – ‘green’ home decor.

We hope to see you tomorrow!

TGCP joins in solstice fun and spreads eco-love!

We had a great time on Saturday at the Solstice Parade in Fremont!  We started our exciting journey by riding our Green Chair float from our shop on Boat Street in the U-District to Stone Way in Fremont. It was a site to see, created from an abandoned Pedi-cab, downed tree branches, vinyl signage material to make crows, mirrored blinds and reed blinds to create mobiles, and salvaged metal from old stoves to make bright colored flowers.

The Green Chair Project Float

Scott Prentice and Carina Manz

During our journey we gave away 500 hand decorated flower and star bracelets made from salvaged vinyl signs (which was quite an endeavor to create, but we had the help of several volunteers- Thanks Dave, Chelsea, Chic, and Christina! J ).

Salvaged Vinyl Bracelets

Once the parade ended, we set-up a booth at Gasworks Park for mask making. Kids and adults joined in the fun and created masks from salvaged vinyl sign material various other scraps. Folks were very creative with the so called “garbage”. For more photos of their inspiring creations check The Green Chair Project’s photo album on Facebook.

Solstice Parade Masks

On Monday, in celebration of solstice, we did more mask making  for Elemental Awareness Day at Carkeek Park. The concept, developed by Seattle artist Brad Willner,  was to “create all sorts of artistic expressions of the Elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Wind) to expand our awareness of nature” and “kick- off  the summer right… push our Mind, Body, and Souls to the limits of the imagination.”  Here are some photos of the event on our Facebook page.

INTERESTED IN MASK MAKING FOR YOUR PARTY/EVENT?

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response from the community to our mask making workshops, we’ve decided to offer our fun and educational services for your parties/events. We’re flexible with group sizes, as we are able to accommodate groups of  4-40 attendees. We can cater to either child or adult events and are able to work with themes, though depending on the details costs will vary. Please contact us for further information. We look forward to helping you and the environment simultaneously at your next event!