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Reusable shopping bag at Powerbooks, Php25. We’re sure we said that somewhere, we just don’t know where.

It’s a reading advocacy project, we don’t get royalties from sales. Not only is the bag useful, but the color is so bright it’s practically a light source.

This is an actual notebook that we spotted at the bookstore. It tells kids to copy their homework from Wikipedia. Not only does it promote plagiarism, dishonesty, laziness and disrespect, it also insults the schoolchildren’s intelligence. (It’s also guilty of copyright infringement.) Any parent who buys this for their children is a dumbass.

Gather all the clothes you no longer have any use for, including the ones that no longer fit but you’re in denial about, and put them in two bags. (All, meaning even those that are not from H&M. They can even be very old or damaged.) Take them to an H&M store. Bring only two bags per day, don’t bring your entire wardrobe.

Take the bag/s to the cash point checkout next to the I:CO (I: Collect) display box. The sales advisor will look at the bag to see if its contents are safe.

The bag will be placed in the I:CO box. In return, you get a “15 percent off 1 item” discount voucher per bag. You can only get a maximum of 2 vouchers a day.

How many pieces or what is the weight of one bag? There are no rules on quantity or weight, but remember that these are clothes you were going to get rid of anyway, so the more the better.

Again, you can only bring 2 bags a day, for which you will get 2 “15 percent off 1 item” vouchers.

I:Collect will sort the clothes and figure out how to reuse them. Clothes still in good condition will be re-sold as used goods. Clothes that are no longer wearable (meaning they’re ruined, not that they’re polyester mu-muus or I heart Alanis T-shirts one cannot be seen in) are made into cleaning cloths (Yes, trapo). Clothes that cannot be reused are recycled into damping or insulating materials or new textiles. If there is no more conceivable use for those clothes, they are incinerated to produce energy.

For every kilo of clothes H&M collects, I:CO will donate 2 cents Euro to UNICEF Philippines. They will not make a profit from this project.

For more information, go to hm.com/longlivefashion.

On November 20 Puregold held its third VIPuring Convention at Le Pavillon in Pasay City. VIPuring is an exclusive event for the Gold Members of Tindahan ni Aling Puring, Puregold’s loyalty program. Gold Members previewed the latest offers and promotions of the top supermarket chain in the country. In photo (left to right): Antonio De Los Santos, Operations Manager, Puregold; Susan Co, Vice Chairman, Puregold; Ramachandra Golikere, Marketing Head, P&G Distributing Phils. Inc.; and Anna Legarda-Locsin, Communications Head, P&G Distributing Phils. Inc.

If we lived in Paris we would hardly ever buy anything new. We would furnish our house with things we found in flea markets and vintage stores. There are some huge flea markets in the city, frequented by professional buyers who snap up the good stuff and sell them to collectors on e-Bay. We went to one in the country, where families who have lived there for generations just want to dispose of their grandparents’ things.

The flea market was the size of a hangar and crammed with relics from other people’s lives. It’s a good thing we had only one hour to spend before catching the train, or we’d still be there now, sifting through years of abandoned possessions. We were hoping to unearth some magic object that would choose us to be its next master.

There were shelves and shelves of china and kitchenware. We found an escargot dish for 50 cents. There was a stack of old porcelain that we kept going back to until Kristin turned over a teacup and saw the Limoges label. Sold! The sticker said 3 euros and we thought it was the price per piece, but it turned out to be the price of the lot. Now our cats can eat out of Limoges china (Thank you, bubble wrap).

We were on the lookout for something we could pass off for a missing Juan Luna and sell for Php55 million pesos (with the proper authentication), but all we found were some fake Renoirs.

There were also some massive tribal masks, if you could stand to have them staring at you all day.

Indigenous weaving traditions that have survived the centuries (and the onslaught of cheap factory-produced synthetic textiles that will turn into trapo faster than a naive “idealist” politician) are showcased at the fourth Likhang Habi Bazaar on October 24 to 26 at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati.

Our cats love abel iloko and will spend hours rubbing their faces on it. Exfoliating?

If you’re attending the Philippine LitFest at Raffles, you can just cross the street.

The bazaar will feature fabrics from all over the archipelago, including Inabel from the Ilocos region and La Union, Cordillera weaves from Banaue and Benguet, T’nalak from Lake Sebu, Piña from Aklan and Palawan, Hablon and Patadyong from Iloilo, Mangyan textiles and baskets from Mindoro, Yakan weave from Basilan, and mats from Samar and Bukidnon.

These weaves have been made into clothes, bags, tablecloths, bedcovers,lampshades, scarves and other wearables.

Likhang Habi is organized by Habi, the Philippine Textile Council. This year’s bazaar will feature a dazzling array of banig, as well as fabrics from Myanmar.

For information and inquiries, contact Eleanor Moldez, noriemoldez@yahoo.com, or post your question in Comments and we’ll forward it to the organizers.

Drogon on a banig