Green: The new black!

September 1, 2008, 6:58 pm
Filed Under new products, random babbling | |

Have you ever heard either of these expressions? “Going Green” or “The New Black?” Well, I’ve got a new kit coming out called “Green: The New Black” and it’ll be up at SBE on Sunday, September 7th. Going Green means becoming environmentally friendly. Before I became a SAHM, I was an environmental specialist for a company that helped industries be compliant with environmental regulations. Part of that was advising them about ways that “being green” could help them not only be compliant, but also save them money. Lately it seems that “green” is “the new black.” See, black is something that’s always in style, right? So going green? It’s now the thing to do - it’s what’s in style, it’s the new black.

So, to kick off my kit coming out next week, I wanted to start blogging about some tips to help us all become more green. First off, let me show you a little sneak peek of the kit:

All this week I’m going to give some environmental tips, I’ll ask you for some & I’ll even be handing out this kit to some lucky commentors! So keep an eye on my blog, be sure to comment & you may get this kit for free before it even goes on sale!

My environmental tip for today is this: Freecycle.org

What is it? The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,590 groups with 5,720,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Their mission statement: Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

Say what? Well, Freecycle is a place where you can give or get used stuff.  Have some furniture that you don’t need anymore? Offer it up on your local Freecycle group and someone may be interested in it. I only just signed up on my local group yesterday, posted 2 items & already they are gone from my house. It helped me de-clutter and it helped someone else get a free rocker/glider and ottoman and a treadmill. That treadmill has been taking up space in my house for years & I never use it. I tried to sell it at a garage sale & it never sold. So now Phyllis has it & can use it because she has trouble walking outside, but wanted to keep active.

What can you do? You can go to www.freecycle.org and enter your town in the search box. Then, join the local group & start giving away stuff! (Or start looking for stuff you might need!)

How does this help the environment? Well, to quote their website & as I said above, “It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.” That treadmill of mine? I’d have thrown it out if someone didn’t come take it from me. Sure, I could have just “curbed it” - put it out on the curb with a note that said, “Free” but we don’t get a lot of drive-by traffic in our neighborhood, so it would have probably ended up in the trash. So I did my part to keep that monster piece of equipment out of the landfill & instead it’s in someone else’s home.

So have you ever used Freecycle? Post here & let me know if you’ve ever heard of it or used it & what you think!


Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. Donna Rafferty on September 1, 2008 7:13 pm

    Great idea to share about Freecycle! I am subscribed to the list in my area, it’s a great way to keep things out of the landfill, and help others out at the same time!

    Love the sneek peek of your new kit - looks so pretty!

  2. Aly in GA on September 1, 2008 7:48 pm

    Freecycle ROCKS! I found out about it a couple of years ago and it worked well. The list I’m on has undergone some growing pains, but it’s still a marvelous way to share. A friend of mine even got an electric organ for her mom through Freecycle.

    And I have to say, Jennifer, that the name for your new kit is spot-on. I used to work for The Nature Conservancy and was environmentally conscious before the term “going green” was so widespread. I could use a refresher course, as I have let some of my better habits slide, so I look forward to your week of tips and hints.

    Cheers!

  3. Kristen on September 2, 2008 1:28 pm

    Love the sneak peek - that sunshine paper is adorable!

    I love Freecycle. Unfortunately we don’t get to use it much - we live way out of town and most people aren’t interested in making the drive way out here. Still. The once or twice a month that we manage to hook our usless crap that’s taking up valuble space we could use to store OTHER useless crap up with someone else is very rewarding. ;)

  4. When you buy a new computer, what do you do with your old one? : JMT-art*Blog* on September 3, 2008 11:16 am

    [...] and a little “it’s a small world” update on my Freecycle post. After I posted a few times on my local Freecycle Yahoo Group, I got an email from one of the [...]

  5. kelly on September 3, 2008 11:50 am

    Ive never heard of it but it sounds like a great idea - gonna check it out! And love your kit!!!!

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