At some point there would seem to be tension between all this information about how to be a good garbage reuser and the business of, you know, having a business. Then again, Threadgould's educating can be thought of as a form of marketing, much as Martha Stewart and other so-called lifestyle icons offer free projects and advice that sync up with the suite of products and services they happen to sell. Threadgould has appeared on the television show "It's Easy Being Green" and has a book of garbage-themed D.I.Y. projects ("ReMake It!") due out in 2011. In Threadgould's case, however, she's advancing not just her specific company but also a larger garbage-loving agenda. And as she points out, that agenda flies in the face of the way most of us think about the material goods we're done with--not to mention the overwhelming message of most marketing, which has to do with obtaining the new, not pondering the potential usefulness of the old.