Best recycling.green ideas ever:

[The Backlash Cometh]

I wish they would make lottery tickets suitable to be used as toilet paper, 'cuz I sure do collect enough of them to save myself the price of a roll.

Consignment hardware stores: You've all gone to the hardware store looking for only one or two specialized nails, but they're only offered in packs of 50, so a consignment hardware store will allow you to drop off unused portions of supplies and materials and get credit for those supplies so you can come back to get other supplies you might need.

Consignment e-bay. Same thing as the hardware consignment shop, but it will list the materials on the computer system and you may have to go to someone's house to retrieve the supplies.

Backyard Habitat laws which override HOA restrictions.

[eleny]

1. Yahoo has Freecycle groups

People post what they have to give away free or what they need and make connections.

[SharonRB]

2. You beat me to it, eleny

I was just going to say the same thing.

The consignment hardware store concept is interesting, though. I can't tell you how many jars of nails and screws we have in our garage!

[eleny]

7. Same here!

Jars, bags, coffee cans full of all sorts of nuts, bolts, screws and I think we could open a washer store. :hi:

[China_cat]

12. If it was only handled somewhere other than Yahoo.

[supernova]

3. We have a Habitat Handme Ups store

People donate old building materials to the store and someone else can buy them for cheap and use them.

*You redo your kitchen and donate your old cabinets to the store
*You replace your flooring and give the old tiles or floorboards to the store
*You replace your sink and fixtures and give them to the store.
*They will take appliances that are still servicable, but maybe just out of fashion too.

And not just those things but archectural details too like windows, stained glass, and ironwork, bannisters. Really anything that can be taken out more or less whole can be given to the store. I've been there many times. It's fun just to browse at what comes in.

edit: All the proceeds from the store go back into Habitat, obviously, so they can buy more land and build more houses.

[Beaverhausen]

6. I looked up the website. What a great idea!

http://www.habitathandmeups.org/

[Mind_your_head]

8. Cool idea - I wish we had one of those 'hand me up' stores in the Chicago area! n/t

[supernova]

9. Hee, the building materials place is in Raleigh

And the Durham store does the home furnishings and such like you see there. B-)

[SharonRB]

11. What a great idea!

[sandnsea]

4. We have Bring Recycle

It's like a giant yardsale with new and used hardware and housing construction items. Look for one in your area, or find a group to start one.

[Beaverhausen]

5. Let's keep this thread going. I see lots of great ideas here already

:hi:

[supernova]

10. Thrift stores are a great resource

for everyday stuff that you know you might not use very long and don't want to put a huge investment in. Like childrens books and clothes.

[Skidmore]

13. Push pen makers to make a stick pen with a recyclable casing and

ink cartridge.

Also take the meat package liner out of disposable diapers and make them the way they were made originally. You could flush the padding in them...and make the outsides of them biodegradable or recyclable. For pity sake. We have mountains of preserved baby droppings in landfills all over the nation.

[Cobalt-60]

14. preserved baby poo, now there's a chemical weapon stockpile

[comtec]

15. Craig's list!

And here in the Netherlands it's marktplaats.nl (market place)

there are free sites that have free ads for people who want to get rid of useful, somewhat used items.

A thought I just had, if you live in an area that LACKS one of these kinds of sights... MAKE YOUR OWN!!!!

The guy who made marktplaats is a MULTI millionaire, after he sold the rights to it.

Make a similar sight for your own area, and see how well it does. People use these resources, they just need them made available..