Green Options

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Kids outgrow toys and clothes faster than the weeds in my garden (well, maybe not that fast). Beyond hosting your own kiddie swap, there are several sites now that make exchanging kids’ gear easier for families, who may not have local connections for such trades. Reusing and reducing the amount of your children’s paraphernalia will not only lessen your carbon footprint, but it will de-clutter your home!

• Zwaggle: Kristen Chase of Cool Mom Picks calls Zwaggle, “basically a more organized Freecycle“. Organization is good, especially since Zwaggle focuses on socially responsible parents. It is a simple concept: “You receive Zwaggle points (or Zoints) by giving your gently used things to other families, then use those Zoints to obtain “new” things for your family.” You can obtain Zoints just by signing up through Parent Bloggers Network.

Web sites and online tools for swapping used items seem to be springing up on a fairly regular basis, and that’s a good thing sustainability-wise: why throw out a used item if someone else can get some value out of it? The newest addition to this group is SwitchPlanet, and founder Chris Samarin has come up with a pretty unique model for facilitating the trade of [...]