What I do with my band, Capone BungtBangt, is to built musical instruments using wasted things. We play a kind of reggaefunkadelic misic. The sound is professional and totally competitive with the commercial musical instruments but the great difference is that what sounds is selfmade by wasted things!
The group was born ten years ago with the idea of leaving behind the standard ways of playing music, while at the same time heightening global humanitarian and ecological awareness.
The music of Capone BungtBangt is created with trash and recycled materials that begin a new life as musical instruments. Virtually every kind of object can be, and is, transformed into real instruments: A piece of wood with 4 sewing elastics mounted on it becomes a double bass. A kitchen broom strung with an elastic band becomes an electric guitar. A polystyrene ice cream box with 5 rubber bands turns into a harp. Plastic garbage cans, metal construction containers, and scrap and sheet metal replace a “real” drum set.
We hope our music will help the new people generetions to see how many things can be done in no impact direction and how is fun to live in that way!
Thank you for the attention and I’m always happy to meet people like you!
Capone
This post was submitted by Capone.
1. 18 years of living aboard sailboat on a floating mooring in the middle of San Diego Harbor (ie) not hooked up to electricity or water; no refrigeration except ice chest, no hot running water.
2. Operate electrical items by solar to battery, wind generation to battery.
3. Shopping done on a fresh item basis with almost all foods/meals made from scratch and made in proper portions so no waste if no ice.
4. Shop using own carrier bags.
5. Don’t replace it if it isn’t broken. By the same token, constant review of systems keeps everything in good working order so things don’t break. Use it or lose it.
6. When we are travelling abroad we use the two person kayak as much as possible for shore transportation instead of the outboard motorized dinghy.
7. We SMILE at everyone we see and WAVE until they wave back to PASS IT ALONG!!
Cheers!
This post was submitted by caryn and gary.
Ever since I finished college 8 years ago and started cooking my own meals, I’ve been trying to have as close to no-impact diet as possible. I’d been vegetarian since I was in middle school, but gradually started giving up dairy and eggs and went vegan for my New Year’s resolution in 2003. I usually stay away from takeout, but in the past I did sometimes buy micro-wave meals, and though the ones I bought were organic and vegan, I still felt bad about all the packaging and processing, and the expense, so I decided to stop buying those and do all my own cooking, mostly with local fruits, vegetables, breads and other non-animal based foods obtained from farmers markets and our local organic grocery store. This has been a lot of fun for me, since I really enjoy cooking and it has helped reign in my grocery bill. Also. when my partner is around to help out, it’s a great way to catch up and spend time together. The trick is to keep on trying new recipes, so you don’t get too bored. I’ve been in graduate school the past few years, so it will be a challenge to keep up this home-made cooking pledge once I stark working full time again, but I think I’ve become so enamored of the taste of home-cooked food I can’t imagine ever enjoying mediocre processed food again.
I’ve also paid more attention to the impact of my wardrobe. Having a soft spot for animals, I’ve never been interested in fur, and stopped buying leather and wool the same time I stopped eating animals products. After buying some dress clothes at the mall for my new job, I decided to stop buying new cloths and stick to hand me downs from friends and family. If I really need a clothing item, I’ll go to my local thrift store, which actually has some really terrific clothing. Though I’ve stuck to this resolution, I still feel like I have too many clothes and have to borrow closet space from my partner!
This post was submitted by Andrea.
Read “The Tightwad Gazette” by Amy Dacyczyn. It’s out of print but available online. Printed in the nineties, it’s a bit dated, but the extremely practical how-to advice will help you lower your impact and save significant money. The best part is the validation, over and over, that this effort is worth making from every point of view: environment, health, money, time, fun, AND balance. I can’t recommend this book highly enough!
This post was submitted by Maria.
I bought the magic micro cleaning cloth for me and four of my friends. http://magicmicrocloth.com/ This amazing cloth will clean windows and mirrors with just water! Not only do I save in not having to buy window cleaner with possible harmful chemicals, but I really love the fact there will be no plastic bottles in the landfill!
This post was submitted by Tonja Steel.
Our family of 5 unplugs any corded device/appliance (including computer, washer/dryer) when not in use. Also installed Energy Saver light bulbs & unscrew all but one or two of the bathroom vanity lights. We have seen drastic results on our electricity bill since beginning this almost a year ago!
This post was submitted by Amani.
One summer evening of 2009 we experienced a severe thunderstorm and lightning hit very close to our home. The next morning we discovered it affected our T.V. and Garage Door Opener. The Garage Door Opener was recoverable but the T.V. was not. Strange thing was, our DVD player and Radio were plugged into the same outlet but, they were not affected by the lightning hit.
We have NOT missed the T.V. at all!
Since then, we have cut back on our electric use, cut back on our cable bill just to the internet and played more games together as a family. If we wanted to watch a movie we would get out our portable DVD player. Seeing we had over 400 movies at home there was not reason to go to the movies. Saving more money!
Not having a T.V. to watch has not hurt us at all.
In fact the has encouraged us to shut off the AC for most of the day and it shows on our electric bill. Saving more money!
We already have meals that are made of fresh produce from the store and from fresh greens from our garden pots at home. Keeping the critters out is a job in it’s self. But having 3 small dogs, helps keep the Rabbits and Armadillos out as much as they can. We were taught a trick of putting deodorant soap shavings around the perimeter of our yard and it also helps keep critters out of the yard.
This post was submitted by Mary Nelson.
What I have view on your site I have been doing for years. I grew up this way on a rural farm in North Dakota. We never wasted anything. Everything was recycled. All paper was shredded or rolled into tight logs to be burned in the fireplace. All foods Scraps were recycled in the garden or given to our pets. We raised our own vegetables, eggs and meats. We purchased milk from a local farmer. We canned or froze everything for food during the winter. We had a rootceller that we kept potatoes, carrots and such. We rendered our own lard. The only thing my mom had to purchase were fruits and we would buy them in bulk and can them for the winter. Oh we also had to buy the basics such as flour, spices and dish or laundry soap. For cleaning we only used dish soap and bleach on most everything. We only used the dryer in the winter months when we could get to the wash line because the snow was too deep or the clothes would freeze on the line. We very seldom used any paper products. My mom even reused bread bags if she decided to make bread rather than purchase it. All cereal bags were reused to seperate meats in the freezer or used to wrap sandwiches for my dad when he went to work. Only once a year did we purchase new clothes and that was for school…the rest of the time we got hand-me-downs or Mom made our clothes. The only thing we never really was able to save much on was transportation as we lived 2 miles from the closest town (50 people) and 15 miles from the closet stores. And yet then we saved also…we only went to town maybe once per week to get things we needed. We did go visiting and those times were usually scheduled when we went into town…unless there was a special event of some sort.
We were going through some stuff of my parents as they are starting to think about being prepared for their deaths. We had such a good time laughing and remembering things because they still have much of the stuff we used as kinds for traveling distances…the old coolers, water thermoses and all that fun stuff…us kids were shocked they still had it…my parents just looked funny at us and said “it is too good to throw out yet.”
I guess I have been a “green” person my whole life and never realized it. It is nice to see the younger generation doing the things us “older” folks have been doing for years…thanks for joining us.
This post was submitted by Lesha.
One summer evening of 2009 we experienced a severe thunderstorm and lightning hit very close to our home. The next morning we discovered it affected our T.V. and Garage Door Opener. The Garage Door Opener was recoverable but the T.V. was not. Strange thing was, our DVD player and Radio were plugged into the same outlet but, they were not affected by the lightning hit.
We have not missed the T.V. at all!
Since then, we have cut back on our electric use, cut back on our cable bill just to the internet and played more games together as a family. If we wanted to watch a movie we get out our portable DVD player. Seeing we had over 400 movies at home there was not reason to go to the movies. Saving more money!
Not having a T.V. to watch has not hurt us at all.
In fact we have even shut off the AC for most of the day and it shows on our electric bill. Saving more money!
We already have meals that are from fresh produce from the store and from our garden pots at home. Keeping the critters out is a job in it’s self. But having 3 small dogs, helps keep the Rabbits and Armadillos out as much as they can. I was taught a trick of putting deodorant soap shavings around the perimeter of our yard and it also helps keep critters out of the yard.
This post was submitted by Mary Nelson.
So much can be composted - egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags, bread, grass clippings, leaves, all fruit and veggie scraps, etc. Mix these items together in a bin, either outside, or inside with worms, and a wonderful soil will be produced. This you can use outside in the garden or inside for potted herbs. There is a little science to composting so some research may be required.
This is activity incorporates health and eliminates a large percentage of waste going to the already-crowded landfills. Moreover, growing and eating your own produce will save you cash.
This post was submitted by Angie.