Borrowing, Bartering, and Buying Secondhand are three great ways to cut back on wasteful consumption and to prevent ‘stuff’ from needlessly ending up in landfills, while saving money at the same time. Why not break the mainstream consumerist addiction of getting what’s new, shiny and expensive and look around your own neighbourhood for things you want or need?
Borrowing
If you find yourself in need of something you don’t think you’ll use more than once or twice, why not ask around your area, at work or home, and see if you can borrow it from someone you know. You’ll not only save money, you’ll save resources needed in manufacturing the one you would have bought, used briefly, and then stored for the next 20 years.
And don’t forget about borrowing from that age-old educational and cultural icon – the Library. Everything from books, magazines, music and movies are available; it’s free and easy.
As well, websites such as Household Network and Loanables are popping up to help make borrowing easier and more widespread.
Bartering
There’s always something lying around that we’d love to get rid of – wouldn’t it be great to get something we could really use in return? Websites are available now such as Swaptree, Swapstyle and freecyle to help you do just that. Or, arrange for you and your friends to have a swap shop – maybe a clothing exchange – to get rid of things taking up room in your closet and make room for ‘new’ finds. It could be described as guilt-free shopping!
Buying Secondhand
All kinds of shops and venues are opening that sell only secondhand wares. If you’re looking for something unique and with character, why not take a look? Or, use Craigslist or Kijiji to track down an item you want right in your own neighbourhood. It’s guaranteed to save you money, and to help save the planet. If you have something of some value that you no longer need, why not try selling it via this means, instead of dumping it in the trash?
If we all think objectively about our consumption habits, we’ll probably find that we could reduce, reuse and recycle a lot more in our day to day life. Let the 3 B’s – Borrowing, Bartering, and Buying Secondhand – help you achieve this goal. In the process you’ll probably discover another B – Bargains!
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In the context of today’s world, ‘consuming’ and ‘balance’ in the same sentence seems to be an oxymoron.
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Great info. I just found Greenr and love all of the information.
We currently use Household Network in our neighborhood. We keep our neighborhood directory there, communicate any neighborhood watch issues to everyone with just one quick email, and list great local service providers as well as items to loan to each other.
Highly recommended… http://www.householdnetwork.com.
Great suggestions here! It’s disturbing how many people will throw away useful/working products just because they don’t want it anymore. Buying second hand and selling/donating your own items is a great way to reduce our current dangerous level of consumption.
There are so many online services we can use to sell unwanted items we really have no excuse to just throw them out. I’ve never had any bad experiences selling or giving away anything – every time the experience has been fantastic.