- The weather outside is frightful… Jan 19
- Green getaways Jan 17
- Eating well all winter… Jan 15
- Warm on the inside Dec 09
- Give the Gift of Green Gadgets Nov 14
- See all posts
Shopping
Choose used or secondhand items
craigslist
Peruse the free online classified ads (search in your own geographic region or anywhere) for just about anything you can name.Freecycle USA
Post items you want to give away for free or get free items from others with this no-charge online membership organization.Freecycle Canada
Like its American counterpart, this online Canadian community lets you post items to give away or find treasures from others.FurnitureTrader.com
Buy and sell used and new furniture online. There is a small fee for listing on this site, but it'll give you exposure to millions of buyers nationwide.Goodwill Industries International, Inc. (various locations)
Goodwill sells donated goods in more than 2,000 retail stores. As of 2006, Goodwill stores had sold more than 2 million items received from more than 58 million donors.Once Upon a Child
Sells new and used children's clothes, furniture, and more at their stores located throughout the US and Canada. You can even take your secondhand items to sell on consignment.Plato's Closet
With franchises across the US and Canada, these exchange stores specialize in clothing alluring to teens, twenty-something's, and aging fashionistas.Used Furniture Findex
Buy and sell used furniture online from near to home or far and wide. They offer new and used listings and even provide a service directory.
Use green credit cards
Bank of America Nature & Wildlife Causes VISA cards
You can choose from a variety of nonprofits to support with this card, including Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, Humane Society, or Brighter Planet. They all come with unique images and logos to match the cause you’ve chosen.CHASE World Wildlife Fund VISA card
Give 1 percent of every purchase you make to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) with this card. Since 1995, the program has contributed over $10 million to saving endangered species and protecting endangered habitats. It has no annual fee and a low introductory rate.GE Earth Rewards MasterCard
Use this card to offset your carbon emissions with every purchase — choose to contribute 1 or a half a percent of your net purchases. On Earth Day every year, the company sends a statement detailing just how much you contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.GreenPay MasterCard
The GreenPay Rewards program provides between 5 and 10 pounds of CO2 offsets for every $1 you spend. Issued by MetaBank, this card has no annual fee and a low interest rate.ShoreBank Pacific Salmon Nation VISA Card
Claiming to be the first sustainable community development, environment-friendly commercial bank in the US, ShoreBank Pacific offers this VISA no-fee card that’ll trigger a donation to Ecotrust with every purchase.Working Assets VISA Signature® Card
Since 1985, Working Assets has been raising money for causes fighting for peace, equality, human rights, and the environment, bringing in over $50 million to date. This card allows you to donate 10¢ with every purchase and earn travel rewards at the same time.
Use a reusable shopping bag
All Green Things 100% Hemp Reusable Produce Bag
Whether you're on the way out to the local farmers market or to Safeway, don't forget this lightweight but durable hemp produce bag, exclusively available from online eco-merchant All Green Things. Aside from fruit and veggie shopping, the bag can also come in handy as a lunch sack for the office, a travel tote, and more.Badlani eco-friendly cotton bags
Badlani specializes in individually hand-cut and hand-stitched cotton bags from India.Banplastic grocery bags grocery bags
Banplastic.com grocery bags are made from 100 percent Ecotec™—a blended cotton yarn produced from the excess fabric of newly made clothing and recycled soda bottle material.Bring Your Own Bag cotton bags
BYOB—for Bring Your Own Bag, of course—offers fashion forward organic and natural cotton tote bags from Vancouver. A portion of BYOB's proceeds are donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada.ChicoBag reusable bags
Manufactured by a fair labor, fair wage company, ChicoBags are a compact and affordable option for carrying produce and other items. It folds up to fit in a pocket or purse, or you can use the carabineer to hook it to a belt loop, backpack or key chain.ECOBAGS produce bags
The ECOBAGS® Produce Bag is made of lightweight cotton, and comes in two convenient sizes. It is available in natural and organic cotton.ECOBAGS reusable shopping bags reusable shopping bags
ECOBAGS specializes in organic, natural, recycled, ecospun, and hemp fiber shopping bags.Ecolution hemp bags
A wide variety of styles are available from this hemp bag superstore.Enviro-Tote organic and recycled shopping bags organic and recycled shopping bags
This family-owned and operated company offers shopping bags made from organic cotton, recycled cotton, and recycled plastic bottles.Envirosax vegan bags
Envirosax "chic, in-expensive, and compact" reusable bags come in a variety of stylish designs, including an exclusively organic line and one just for the kids.Grassroots unbleached cotton shopping bags
Grassroots' reusable unbleached cotton shopping bags come in two prints to choose from.Greensaks reusable shopping bags
Greensaks are made of 100 percent recyclable polypropylene non-woven fabric.One Organic Earth cotton bags
One Organic Earth's stylish totes are made from 100 percent organic cotton.Red Flag Design AUM Recycled Sailcloth
Red Flag Design "rescues about-to-be-discarded" cloth from old sails and gives the super-durable material new life as unique and stylish tote bags.Reusable Bags
Reusable Bags is a clearinghouse of reusable shopping bags made from recycled and renewable materials.The Cloth Bag Company cotton bags
The aptly named Cloth Bag Company carries reusable cloth tote bags made from ecospun or unbleached cotton canvas.Vulcana, Inc. recycled rubber tote bags
Take the concept of waste reduction to the next level by carrying your groceries home in a bag made of recycled rubber from old tires.
Comments
11:44am
What about a simple tip like: think twice before you buy. I'm not saying that I'm in the mood for an economic recession, but it might behoove us to ask before you buy: Do I really need this? Is it something I can do without? How long will it last? The 3 R's are: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and there's never enough emphasis put on that first one. If you want something written up about it, I think I could find something...