The very beginning of the aluminum can begins at the moment I empty its contents, usually a soda. In Buffalo, the can is worth 5 cents recycled, and the process leaves a nasty sticky film from the spillage of the soda on the floor on the bottom of my shoes when I leave the recycling center in a supermarket. That can means many things from a kid’s game to pocket change with a gummed up shoe, but taking apart (without a knife) the can with your imagination expands its uses even more.

What do I mean by taking it apart with your imagination?

The can is a label that leaves the can as a container. The metaphor, which is the label “can” applied to the piece of aluminum, creates what it is. It limits the imagination since the can is a container first that has many expectations latched to it. By taking it apart with your imagination, I mean that the can be seen from different perspectives that open up the possibilities of how it might be manipulated and put to use.

I could look at that can as a sheet of aluminum for artwork, in which case the graphics on the outside of the can might serve as a piece of a montage. Or I might see that can as something that can be cut into two and become two pots for flowers. It just happens that one of the pots has an automatic drain to keep the soil dry in a proper way. (Wait to see what I turn this idea into in a week.) Best of all, I will get 5 cents back when I am finished with my project.

Imagining how the can to not be a can is a first step to identifying new solutions to old problems of how to live sustainably.

How else might you apply this trick of redefinition to change an object? Leave some comments below. I would love to see my reader’s ideas.

As he writes:

“This product combines elements of two very separate concepts to create a product which has multiple target group opportunities. Simply put, the product is a small power supply unit that recharges by attaching a bicycle. Using design aspects of a stationary bike trainer and a portable power supply, the product offers consumers a way to power small everyday electronic devices during power outages. “

This is one invention that should find its own niche market.

http://www.design21sdn.com/competitions/11/entries/3238/gallery

Some steps to greening your lifestyle don’t have to be dramatic as relocating into a communal setting, though it is a good step. You can practice hyper-miling when your driving to increase your gas mileage, create a vermaculture (you must love worms for this) to deal with waste, or just simply recycle the gifts from last year to a new friend this year. All of these strategies end up saving you money in the long run since resources are handled more efficiently and effectively.

What else can you do? Well, that is up to you and your lifestyle. Below are several links that I know you will find helpful and will cut your living costs.

Green Living Resources

http://www.worldchanging.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/

http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/category/daily-green-tips/

http://greenlivingideas.com/simple-living/index.php [podcast]
http://www.idealbite.com/ [e-newsletter]

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?cat=5

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/

http://grist.org/advice/ask/2008/05/21/ [an insightful green guru providing humorous responses to life's greening questions]Gr

The University of Wisconsin at River Falls hosted this event where 5 school districts and more than 100 students, teachers, and professors participated in a giant community asset mapping exercise. Given a large sheet of flip chart paper, they were guided by AmeriCorps volunteers through a process to identify their community’s strengths, problems, and imagine how one problem might be solved by connecting the community’s strengths in a service-learning project. At each table, different projects were developed and the students went back to their schools to develop how to make it a reality.