Okay, we know that technically it is year of the Rat, specifically, the Earth Rat (FYI, Ruby Re-Usable is an Earth Dog), but since Olympia Dumpster Divers tend to be collectors of junk, we can relate to those rodents that horde stuff for future use. We have been saving various links, images, and information to share with you; now it is time to haul some out:

Olympia artist Chiyo Sanada （年女です）sent out this lovely image along with her New Year greetings.

Blair at Wise Craft blogged about Barney’s green holiday windows that featured bottle caps and aluminum cans arranged in a festive mosaic; wonder who the designer is that was behind this?

Check out Bottle Cap Art Heaven (for reals) if you have ever wondered about what to do with your bottle cap collection.

Eastern Washington artist Rik Nelson creates cool recycled art collages with community participation at ACE.

Alchemy Goods slogan is “turning useless into useful;” wonder what they can do with certain teenagers…

Trashopia and the Dumpster Diversion project is in California; Garbagialand is in New York; Garbage Land is the book by Elizabeth Royte that everyone should read. At his lecture last week, Chris Jordan recommended Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken.

So now it is time to sweep out the bad luck — you don’t have to wait for spring to start cleaning — Good Luck and Be Prosperous this year! love, etc Ruby