DIY Collective Unrecognized

Mission Statement
The DIY Collective's mission is to provide information, skillshares, and space for the purpose of building, sewing, crafting, stitching, making, modding, altering, innovating, and creating items, including clothing, food, tools, toys, and anything else that anyone might be interested. We believe in learning the skills necessary to make and do things ourselves for the purpose of 1. getting away from capitalist modes of production and consumerism, and 2. because making things ourselves is so much more fun, and more awesome, than buying it premade at a store somewhere. We also believe in making the knowledge around creating things more accessible, so that the abilities and skills necessary to create the things we need, want, and enjoy is not restricted by elitism or subculture.

History of DIY
(from wikipedia's DIY page)

The term 'DIY' or 'Do-It-Yourself' is also used to describe:


 * Self-publishing books, zines, and alternative comics.
 * bands or solo artists releasing their music on self-funded record labels
 * creating crafts such as knitting, sewing, handmade jewelry, ceramics, etc.
 * creating musical merchandise through the use of recycling thrift store or discarded materials, usually decorated with logo art applied by silk screen.
 * Independent game development and game modding.

DIY as a subculture arguably began with the punk movement of the 1970s. Instead of traditional means of bands reaching their audiences through large music labels, bands began recording themselves, manufacturing albums and merchandise, booking their own tours, and creating opportunities for smaller bands to get wider recognition and gain cult status through repetitive low-cost DIY touring. The burgeoning zine movement took up coverage of and promotion of the underground punk scenes, and significantly altered the way fans interacted with musicians. Zines quickly branched off from being hand-made music magazines to become more personal. Zines quickly became one of the youth culture's gateways to DIY culture, which lead to tutorial zines showing others how to make their own shirts, posters, zines, books, food, etc.

With the rise of the modern multi-national corporation, North American and European DIY culture has increasingly become a social and political ideology as well as a hobby or fashion aesthetic. Similar to the Arts and Crafts movement of the 1900s, the modern DIY movement is viewed as a reactionary response on an individual scale to modern industrial society's reliance on mass-production. In response to various large multi-national companies exploiting labor in developing countries, (such as Gap, Nike, Coca-Cola, and others), the DIY subculture has increasingly been motivated in part by a wish not to support such cruelty and abuse. A common sentiment expressed in DIY culture is to "think globally, act locally," meaning that support of multinational corporations supports exploitative labor and environmental practices, so to create items by oneself or to purchase goods and services made locally in effect boycotts these organizations. In addition, making, recycling, or otherwise following a doctrine of "non consumption" as part of DIY subculture lessens the amount of sales taxes one pays, such taxes being viewed as similarly aiding such morally repugnant institutions as governments which wage war. This view of "consuming less as a political statement" is not agreed upon in the subcultures it is found in, but is a motivating force for many of its adherents.

DIY culture is not limited to hand-making items such as clothing and housewares, but extends to choices of public transportation such as biking and bike repair, walking, taking public transportation, making electric, hybrid or bio-diesel vehicles and modifying existing vehicles, to avoid supporting traditional car companies. Listening to and making community radio, pirate radio, and watching and making community television instead of advertising-filled traditional media is also common.

Meeting Times
We meet at Thorpe House (by the farm center) every Sunday. Often we cohost meetings and skillshares with other groups, such as the Zine Collective and Friends of Fermentation.

Inventory
We recently ordered 200 amber bottles (no dropper top) and 200 amber bottles (with dropper tops), and 200 mason jars.