Green Options » goodwill

Thrift Store Crafting: What to Buy, What to Make

Julie Finn — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:23:23 +0000

A good thrift store is an asset to a community equal to that of a mom-and-pop hardware store, a locally-famous ice cream/snowcone/frenchie stand, and a rockin’ adult co-rec softball team: in other words, it’s crucial.

In my hometown, we’re lucky not only to have all of the above and a library that stocks just released feature film DVDs, but several excellent thrift stores—thrift stores small and quirky, thrift stores large and conglomerate, thrift stores frequented largely by the college students, thrift stores frequented mostly by the townies. As an avid crafter whose Crafting Manifesto dictates that I work primarily with recycled materials, I have throughout several years’ worth of projects figured out a way to use pretty much any kind of thrift store junk to make awesome stuff. Here are some of the possibilities:

Recycling for Change: Epic Change uses a pay-it-forward approach to saving the world

Gennefer Snowfield — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:59:13 +0000

If you’re going to change the world, wouldn’t you like it to be epic?

Stacey Monk, Co-founder and CEO of Epic Change, does, which is why she and Sanjay Patel decided to launch their unique approach to sparking social change by converting people’s “epic” stories into financial resources they can use to improve their communities, their lives – and the world.

Rooted in the best practices of successful businesses and charities, their somewhat novel approach to funding uses donations to provide interest-free loans to finance community improvement efforts, which they repay by generating revenue-driving projects based on each epic story, and then recycle by duplicating those ideas in other communities, effectively spreading hopefulness and change to everyone their program touches.

I had the opportunity to talk with Stacey to dig a little deeper into their change model, and this impassioned former management consultant with a degree in Public Policy from the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University boasts an impressive resume, but her most compelling attribute by far is a genuine desire to promote positive change and a dewey-eyed hopefulness that makes me believe she can.

Tip o’ the Day: Shop ‘Til You Drop

Rebecca Carter — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:13:55 +0000

You want to help the environment, but you still love to go shopping? No worries, there is a way to shop and not consume resources. In fact, celebrities have made it famous. It’s Vintage, darling, and it’s absolutely fabulous.

Patronize vintage stores. In code, that means buy used stuff! Give furniture a chance to build memories for a new family, jewelry another chance to shine, and that sweater another winter to keep you warm. By buying used (err, I mean vintage) items, you can receive something that is useful to you without consuming new resources. Plus, you are saving another item from the landfill.

Don’t limit yourself to using the item in the form that it currently exists. Turn that bra into a purse. Make a pillow from that cool t-shirt you found. Feel free to get creative and have fun! Get started at local consignment or charity shops, or check out a branch of a Goodwill near you.

Rebecca says: Danny Seo always has lots of creative ideas on how to make something beautiful out of ordinary stuff…the king of repurposing!