Planning An Eco-Friendly Move

We're finally doing it! My family and I are packing up and moving back to the East Coast from Texas.   It will be great to live closer to family and actually see some Fall foliage.

In preparation for the move, I focused on two main areas. 

1. Eco-Friendly Packing Materials
The first thing I investigated was the possibility of limiting or eliminating the waste of using cardboard boxes and tape.

www.rentagreenbox.com

A few cities have some amazing options for folks moving intra-city, such as: Rent A Green Box.  For a modest fee, you can rent reusable boxes (with tops).  The company drops plastic boxes off at your point of departure for your move, then picks them up at the destination after you've unpacked them.  It also sells eco-friendly packing materials for fragile items.  And if you plant your used packing labels in the garden, you can watch lovely snapdragons spring forth!  Rent A Green Box currently operates in Orange County and Los Angeles Counties.

Live in Seattle or the surrounding areas, Canada, Idaho or Minnesota?  Take a look at Frogbox.

BungoBox serves markets in Arizona and Florida.

Rentacrate serves a number of markets and can be used for cross-country moves.

2. Moving Less Stuff
Moving is a great opportunity to pare back.  If there's anything we haven't touched in a few years, whether it's kitchen equipment, books, toys or clothes, it's going to be reviewed.  Holding a moving sale and advertising it on craigslist.org is a great way to cull your possessions.  We plan to do this two weeks before departure.  Whatever is left over will be donated to Goodwill for a tax deduction or given away on freecycle.org.

Cute garage sale sign from www.sassysigns.com.

What are your eco-friendly moving tips?

10 Ways to Reuse and Reduce

The Three R's: REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

I've written many times before about recycling (you can see my many posts here), but I think not enough attention is paid to the topics of reduce and reuse.  So expect more posts from me on these two topics.

To kick things off, let me give you some ideas on ways you can reuse and reduce:

REUSE

1. If you've got things you don't need or want, you can pass them along to other people who might be able to use them instead.  Do not underestimate others' abilities to reuse things you think are worthless.  You can sell things through eBay, craigslist or yard sales (see my tutorial on yard sales here).  Or you can give them away through Freecycle, Goodwill or any number of other local programs.  Subscribing to your local freecycle email list can also be a great source of entertainment.  It's pretty funny to see what some people list.  For example, one request was recently posted to my local group for a male peacock to join a female peacock someone had living wild in their backyard.
2. Source or buy items used via the vehicles I mentioned above, or via pawn shops, antique shops, second hand stores or flea markets (what an awful name for something so fun).    For instance, my husband mentioned to me the other day that he saw a whole lot of great garden tools at a second hand store near us.  Why buy brand new tools when you can buy gently used ones cheaper?  They're going to get dirty and dinged up by you anyway!

REDUCE

1. Use cloth instead of paper towels.  In my house, we use cheap bar towels I picked up in bulk at Costco.  I have one bunch of them dedicated to cleaning my house.  I have another bunch dedicated to my kitchen.  I also cut up old bath towels and use them for cleaning.
2. Choose cast iron.  Did your Teflon pans get scratched and you need to buy new ones?  Cast iron cookware is healthier, cheaper and far more durable, and it's easier to care for than you imagine.
3. Make your own household cleaners.  The end product is cheaper and reduces the world's production of plastic in the process.  See my recipes and tips here.
4. Cook.  This seems like a simple idea but it's one people forget about.  If you enjoy store bought hummus, lemonade, muffins, pizza, ice cream, steak marinade, you can make your own, often healthier, versions, and save the world some plastic, paper or glass.  You can save time by preparing more than you need and freezing some for another day.  See my recipes here.
5. Make your own makeup and reuse those old containers.  It's really not hard. As an added benefit, you know exactly what you're putting on your skin.  See my recipes here.  Check back, as I plan to write about a few more very soon.
6. Save water in your garden. You can reduce the amount of water you need to effectively hydrate your lawn and flower beds by a) watering at night and b) scheduling your sprinkler heads to run through several five-minute cycles instead of just one long one (helps the water sink in better so you have less running down the street).
7. Compost.  This qualifies as both Reuse and Reduce.  Reuse kitchen and garden scraps and reduce the amount of fertilizer you need to buy for your garden.  See my postings on composting here.
8. Use your freezer and learn how to properly store things in it to save leftovers and reduce spoilage - it also enables you to take advantage of good prices on your favorite organic foods.  See my tutorial here.

Recycling 201: Yard Sales

I love yard sales.  It's an important and fun part of the recycling chain.  The process of preparing for a yard sale is a great way to keep your home tidy, organized and efficient.  It requires sifting through your possessions to see what you can part with.  It generates cash, and it's a great way to lessen your contribution to landfills.  Your castoffs might be another's treasures, and you can feel good about that.  You're doing a solid for humanity. 

My friends are dedicated yard salers.  Every Saturday morning they set out to see what treasures they can find.  This past Saturday, during my visit to LA, I joined them in this ritual and learned some great tips.

Here's a list of good things to know about yard sales.

Where to Find Yard Sales

• You can find yard sales by driving through your neighborhood on Saturday mornings and looking for signs.  Don't be misled by the number of signs you see for a yard sale.  If you see a lot of signs for the same sale, it doesn't necessarily mean the seller is desperate.  It might just be because there's an overzealous teenager involved who has a stake in the proceeds.
  
• You can log on to CraigsList.  Just navigate to your city, then use the search term "yard sales."  Up pops everything that folks have listed (here's an example, for Los Angeles).  
• If you are planning your own yard sale, put up signs with your address and the time of the yard sale at major intersections near your home, and don't forget to list it on CraigsList.
  

Pricing of Items

• Pricing is an indicator of the economy.  In good times, people are just looking to get rid of their things.  They're less likely to care about the pricing.  These days, you'll see prices stuck to every item.  People are more serious about getting their asking price for their things.  Sellers need to have realistic expectations, though.  For instance, if you want $20 for that big box of Legos, you won't get it.  You'll only get $10.  It doesn't matter how much they sell for in the stores.
• If it isn't gone by 11:30am, pack it up and drop it off at Goodwill.  So price things to sell.
  
• Buyers can find Harry Potter books for $1 at yard sales.  Want $50 for the whole series?  You won't get it.  No, it doesn't matter that Amazon sells the hardcover boxed set for $120.  You will get $1 a piece.
• Don't sell high end things at yard sales (yesterday, I saw a jet ski at a yard sale for $7500).  You won't even get a "reasonable" price.  
• The golden ratio is 20:1.  If a yard saler pays $1, it's worth $20.  One person's trash is another person's treasure. 
• Sellers should have lots of change on hand - dollar bills, fives and quarters.  LOTS.
• You can find baby books, in great shape, at yard sales for $0.25 a piece.  In stores, a small stack of baby books would cost a fortune.  Get there early to find these treasures.
• CDs can go for $0.25 a piece.  Buyers can upload their favorite songs to their iPod, then resell the CD at their own yard sale for $0.25, rendering the uploaded songs free.

Should You Hold A Yard Sale?

• In yard sales, the dollar still has value.  Buyers are looking for a "find", a "treasure."  They're not looking for a deal versus retail.  That sort of shopping is done on eBay, so you might consider listing certain items there.  If you don't want to ship items, list them on CraigsList because the expectation there is that people will come and pick them up from your home.
• Yard sales are a great way to teach your children lessons about money, the value of a dollar, budget and frugality.  It's also a great opportunity for your youngster to operate a lemonade stand under your watchful eye.  The going rate for lemonade is $0.25 a cup (not dixie cups, not huge beer cups - the size just up from a dixie cup) - maybe $0.50/cup if your neighborhood is more affluent.  Another great item to sell is Donettes or bite-sized brownies for $0.25 a piece.  It is breakfast time, and people would probably love these.  If you have an older child manning the stand, he/she could also make change.  Younger kids might request exact change only, and buyers can get change from mom and dad.
  
• Goodwill Versus A Yard Sale: For clothes, you might sell a pair of pants for $0.50.  The tax deduction you might get through a contribution to Goodwill might be $0.50, and Goodwill might resell those pants to the public for a few dollars.  
• Consider joining forces with your neighbors to hold one large yard sale at one person's house.  You can separate the shopping areas so folks pay the proper sellers, but you might gather a larger crowd if you've got a few houses worth of items displayed.
  

When to Go

• Yard sales tend to be held 8am-noon on Saturdays.  Most of the good stuff, if priced correctly, will be gone by 11:30.  What's left at noon should be packed up and taken to Goodwill. Sunday yard sales don't do well.   
• Serious yard salers should show up early.  In LA, there are professional yard salers.  They show up at 7:30am, scour the landscape, pick up a few treasures and then might resell them at the Rose Bowl.  The Rose Bowl hosts a huge, wonderful flea market one Sunday each month. 
• It's ideal to arrive at yard sales at 8:30am or 9am. 
• Sometimes it's better to show up late because when people have never had a yard sale, their expectations are high and they won't bargain until they realize they're not getting people to buy things.  That usually happens later in the day.

Etiquette

• If someone wants $60 for something, don't say "will you take $10?"  It's insulting.  You don't want to break someone's spirit.  Maybe you could ask for 1/2 off, or a "2 for 1" deal.  If it's $10 and you say "will you take $5?", that's very different than saying "will you take $2?"  
• If you see something you like and want to discuss it with your shopping buddy, don't look directly at the item while you're talking.  It attracts the attention of other yard salers and they will descend like vultures.  
• Don't step on another yard saler's deal.  If an item is tagged at $10 and they're offering the seller $5, don't cut in and say "I'll pay $10!"  You will make a yard sale-ing enemy.
  

The Best Way to Display Items

• Put items on tables.  Resist putting things on the ground.  That's what you do with garbage.  It's a psychological thing.  If you put things on a table, people feel like they are shopping.  If things are on the ground, people feel like they are rummaging.  They might not be very careful with your things and they will not want to pay money for items they have to rummage through.
• If you're selling clothing, try to hang it up on racks.
  
• If you're visiting a yard sale and you see lots of things on the ground, you might find some bargains because people overlook things on the ground.

A Word of Caution

• The vast majority of humankind is honest and nice.  Just be alert.  You might encounter someone who is casing your house, looking to "shoplift" or wants to pull a scam.
• Don't hold your yard sale inside your house. 
  
• One scam I've heard of is someone approaching a seller when he/she is very busy and asking a price for something, then coming back and saying "do you have my change?  I gave you a $5."  You don't want to make a scene, so you give the change and the person walks off with the item AND the change.
• Don't accept checks, and don't accept any bills over $20.  Counterfeiters love yard sales. If someone approaches you with a larger bill, ask them to go to 7-11 for change.