Fri 4 Dec 2009
A Frugally Green Garage Sale Giveaway
Posted by Tyler under Asides
[16] Comments
Sorry, no Eco-Links this week. Here’s something WAY BETTER.
Howdy folks. Another week’s gone by and I can hardly wait to spend the weekend catching up on projects I’ve let slide a bit.
Last week I wrote out what I’ve decided to call my “Christmas List” - a list of things I want to complete by Christmas.
One of the itemson this list to check off is “declutter.” It’s more of an ongoing process for me, but I wanted to really make a go of it before the holidays are in full swing.
Jessie and I have been on a minimalism kick lately, and it’s driven us to purge a lot of things from our lives. It feels great to pare down my belongings to the things I truly value and use regularly.
However, a lot of things I’ve been getting rid of aren’t junk, they’re pretty useful. I just don’t have a place for them anymore.
I’m happy to give the things I don’t use any more to charities like Goodwill that can do great things with them, but since it’s the season of giving, I thought I’d extend a little of the same to you.
I’ve chosen a few items that I feel like Frugally Green readers would really enjoy and decided to give them away. I call it the Frugally Green Garage Sale Giveaway. That’s the cheesiest name I could come up with.
What you’ll win
I scratched my head for a few minutes, shuffled some things around on the floor and then organized everything into 4 prize packages:
Grand Prize (1 Winner): A “green home” package consisting of 5 great home design books to help you plan for a new home, a remodel, or just a redecoration to create great living in small spaces:
- The Not So Big House Collection (2 books) by architect Sarah Susanka
- Not So Big Solutions for Your Home by Sarah Susanka
- Green by Design: Creating a Home for Sustainable Living by Angela M. Dean
- PreFabHome by Michael Buchanan
Second Prize (1 Winner): Two excellent books to help you make the green changes in your life that matter most to you:
- It’s Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth Friendly Living by Chrissy Trask
- Sleeping Naked is Green: How an Eco-cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days by Vanessa Farquharson
Third Prize (1 Winner): A DVD copy of Wal*Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices (Caution: causes extreme beard stroking and furled brows)
Fourth Prize (4 Winners): A cute little (brand new) cotton tote bag for carting your groceries home from the store
How to win
Ok, now that you’re all excited and ready to wet your pants, here’s what you need to do to enter yourself in the great Frugally Green Garage Sale Giveaway:
Leave a comment on this post letting everyone know what you think is the best way to save (or make) money while improving the world.
That’s it. That’s all you have to do, but I want your best stuff because you can only be entered once.
I’ll eventually compile your responses into a full post to highlight the mind blowing intelligence of all my readers.
Second chance entries
If you’re just dying for a second chance to win, I’ve come up with two more ways for you to get your name in the hat:
- Leave a thoughtful response to someone else’s comment. I want to know what you liked (or didn’t like) about their comment and why. No “great point” or “you suck” type of responses. Get that hamster wheel spinning for a second before posting.
- Retweet this post on Twitter. Now, that’s simple, isn’t it? Make sure you include “Frugally Green” or “@FrugallyGreen” in the tweet so that I can make sure you’re counted.
The details
So really you have 3 chances to win and I hope you use all of them. This little promotion will run until this time next week. On Friday, December 11, I ‘ll assign each entry a number and use a random generator to select the winners.
If you’ve won, I’ll contact you over the weekend to let you know. All you have to do is give me your address and I’ll take care of the rest.
Thanks for being part of Frugally Green. Good luck!
~~~~~
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Connect with me on Twitter: @FrugallyGreen
Garage sale image by sfllaw.
Related posts:
- Welcome to Frugally Green
- Merry Christmas Frugally Green Style
- Frugally Green Featured on Saving for Serenity
- Site Update: New Features Added to Frugally Green
- How to Pretend to be Frugally Green
best way to save while saving planet: don’t spend money on useless crap that you don’t really need or will even want in a month. save the money and keep stuff out of the landfill.
best way to make money while saving planet: do something you truly love and find a way to get paid for it. a planet of fulfilled souls makes for a better world.
Best way to save while saving planet: Get rid of all Incandescent lamps at home. Replace them with efficient CFL or LED lamps. They draw way less power saving you money and result in less emissions at the power plant. They can pay themselves within a few months depending on your usage.
If concerned about Mercury in CFLs, use caution while handling them so they don’t break and finally recycle them at the end of their life. Home Depot has excellent CFL recycling program.
Incandescent lamps generate a lot of heat that your AC needs to finally remove from your home during summers. This causes extra burden on your AC and also costs you money.
Wendy – Passionate! I like it!
KC – Nice point about the the excess heat from incandescent bulbs.
Best way to save money: buy used! Try a thrift store or your local Goodwill before buying a brand new item from a big box store.
Dude, we’re both doing a Friday give-away! Great minds. Great minds.
Ok, this is not an official entry, because I’m trying to declutter myself. I just wanted to A–say that I would have said exactly what Wendy said and feel blessed that I am able to work in the nonprofit sector doing what I love (and helping folks!) even though it drives me nuts sometimes. And B–I’m totally stealing this idea.
You’re awesome, Tyler! The internets and world at large is a better place thanks to your fabulous voice.
The best way to save money while improving the world is to be realistic in your choice of automobile. How much passenger/cargo space do you really need? Are most of your trips made with only the driver in the car? etc.
Once you have determined what you really require, buy an used,well maintained vehicle that fills those requirments. Make maintence a priority and do as much of it yourself as you can to keep the vehicle in top condition.
IMO, it is wealthier for the planet to continue to use existing resources as opposed to consuming more in the name of new.
Kevin – I’m all about buying used. I think I buy almost everything except food used.
ConsciouslyFrugal – You’re making me blush. Thanks for stopping by! I think it’s great that you’ve found such fulfilling work for yourself.
Jason – great tips for any one with or looking for a vehicle. I’m really trying to work towards going carless.
Keep the good stuff coming guys!
Sell the car! Ditching the (or one of the, for multiple car households) auto can be an amazing experience, both environmentally and financially.
Composting can save you some money on your garbage bill and your garden will thank you next year. It is easy to do and doesn’t have to take up a lot of space.
The best way to save money is to live with the minimum we need. The less we buy, the less we use and the less impact we have on the environment.
Of course, there are cultural and comfort concerns too.
Our family ‘improving the world’ strategy is the thing we’ve been telling our kids for years….want vs. need. It’s amazingly simple to figure out what you truly need and buy only those things that fit into that category. And like several other commenters, when we do need something, we try to buy ‘used’ as often as possible.
…not sure how this translates into having 4 dogs and 11 cats…mental health need?
The best way to save money while saving the planet is to live close to where you work! Since I really wanted to live in Boston/Cambridge, I chose to work 3 miles away instead of 20+ miles away! In the summer I bike or take public transportation to work, and winter time I drive when it’s too cold or snowing.
We also live within walking distance from our main grocery store.
The rent in the city is not that different from being in the suburbs, so from that aspect it’s not too bad either!
Thanks everyone! These are all great tips. I’m looking forward to highlighting them in a post in the future.
Don’t forget you can still get another entry until Friday by tweeting this post.
Cheers!
Promote peace. A peaceful planet is free of costly wars.
@Tyler and Kat -
I applaude your ability to live(or hope to) car free. I can definately see the positives of this lifestyle change.
As my goal is to live sustainably on a hobby farm, my values just don’t align with a car free lifestyle. I would be forced to live in an area that would not allow for the kind of life I wish to leave.
This is the balance between ideals and dreams that we must all find.
Jason, you make a great point. Sustainability has no “one size fits all” option. It’s all about doing what works for you. I’m sure that living on a hobby farm provides a lot of opportunities to preserve resources that many of us city dwellers aren’t able to take advantage of.