Giving and Getting Stuff for
FREE is FUN BY
susan hunt stevens
Susan Hunt Stevens
Have you heard of Freecycle? It’s a site organized by town that lets you post things you are willing to part with at no cost. Or you can post for things you need, but can’t or don’t want to pay for. At first I was a little skeptical, but I needed a whiteboard for our office so decided to try. I posted “Wanted: Office Whiteboard.� Within 30 minutes, I had three offers. The next week, I decided I
needed to find a home for baby supplies we no longer needed so I posted, “Offer: Bag of Baby Dishes, Utensils and Bibs.� I got two emails and the next week they were gone. Using Freecycle, I’ve cleaned out my basement and furnished our offices, all at no charge and with the real sense that someone is benefiting by either getting rid of things they don’t need or getting things they do. Most of the people are incredibly nice and responsive. A few never pick up items and you move on to the next person on the list. Sometimes the person giving or receiving turns out to be a friend or neighbor, which always give you both a good laugh. In chatting to people about Freecycle, I’ve also discovered other fun exchange resources online, including a kids’ clothing swap site, thredUP, as well as swap.com and Swapaholics.com. Sure, I love the environmental benefits of not buying new stuff. Less packaging, less shipping, and fewer natural resources consumed is great for everyone and everything. But I also just LOVE saving the money and getting perfectly good stuff (I’m a frugalista at heart). And honestly, is there anything more zen-like than a clean and decluttered basement? Susan Hunt Stevens is a Newton mom of two and author of a green mom blog, blog.practicallygreen. com. Her Web site, practicallygreen.com, provides information and tools to make the process of going green easier and more fun for others.
Reduce, Reuse, Re-Cutie Bring us your outgrown items to consign and have another family reuse them and recycle the Cutie way.
Celebrate Earth Day with a
GREENER MAILBOX BY
malia jacobson
This month, commemorate Earth Day and Arbor Day by saying no to junk mail. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, marketers produce more than 4 million tons of junk mail annually—using 100 million trees—and nearly half of it is discarded without being opened. That means that each day, Americans receive an average of six pieces of junk mail, along with the unwelcome chore of sorting it, shredding it and disposing of it. Opting out of unwanted mail is a simple step to a greener household that benefits the planet, frees up your time, eliminates clutter in your entryway and protects your personal information. A greener, cleaner, safer home sounds pretty good, right? Unfortunately, there’s no one-stop shop for removing your name from all mailing
lists. But a quick trip around the Web can dramatically reduce the amount of junk mail you receive in a matter of minutes. Fill out and submit a few simple forms found at the sites below, and you should see junk mail begin to disappear in as little as a month. In the meantime, make the best of the extra paper arriving in your mailbox by repurposing catalogs and junk mail into colorful art. Direct mail response cards (the stiff cards often found in magazines) can be fashioned into a paper-doll wardrobe; catalogs can be cut up and made into a springtime collage; and plain junk mail envelopes
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