Last year's phone book is today's gift bag
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Evelyn Nakamura doesn't buy wrapping paper or throw away old calendars.
Courtesy Verizon Hawai'i
A practicing recycler, she finds ways to reuse the items we would normally and unthinkingly toss into the trash.
Old telephone book covers give a distinctive and local look to Evelyn Nakamura's hand-crafted creations.
"I give them a second life," said the 54-year-old educational specialist from Palolo. "Anything that people throw away."
One household staple that gets pitched every year is phone directory.
Nakamura, a guru of recycled crafts, has found ways to reuse the phone books, turning them into gift bags, stationery and wreaths. Her crafts will be on display when Verizon Hawai'i unveils its new phone directory cover art at 10 a.m. today at the Honolulu Academy of Arts. The new phone books will be distributed this week.
"We've always encouraged people to recycle their own phone books," said Ann Nishida, spokesperson for Verizon Hawai'i, the former GTE-Hawaiian Tel which is celebrating its first anniversary today as well. "Evelyn has found a wonderful way to preserve the life of the cover art, and we applaud her creativity and commitment to recycling."
Growing up with resourceful parents, Nakamura has learned to be creative. She weaves old sheets and clothing into rag rugs, wraps gifts in fabric bags or furoshike (decorative Japanese fabric bundles) and makes gift bags from old calendars..
The phone book covers work well as gift bags because of their sturdiness and bright colors. To make the gift bags that show off the cover art, Nakamura uses three covers (one for the front, back and sides). She cuts one cover in half for the sides, attaching them to the other two covers with white glue. She creates the bag shape by folding it like a brown paper bag. For handles, she uses thick cord or strapping tape.
"All these things are not my original ideas," said Nakamura, who is raising her 16-year-old daughter to be recycling conscious. "I find good ideas and apply it to stuff we have in our environment that we would normally throw away. It's the idea of making things yourself and cutting back on consumerism."
