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Many people think that being “green” means shopping at Whole Foods, driving a Prius, and buying carbon offsets. Those who really understand the challenges facing our planet today, however, know that “green” isn’t just another marketing concept, and that true conservation is less about what you buy and more about what you don’t buy. So much of the stuff we use on a daily basis is basically designed to be disposable. Even our clothes, our cars and our electronics are designed not to last but to inevitably fail, requiring us to buy a new whatever it was. And the cost of these products, both in the manufacture of new ones and in the disposal of old ones, is high for the planet. So what do you do, then, if you really want to live lightly on the planet? Consider repairing and repurposing rather than replacing items when they wear out. Not everything can be fixed, and I certainly wouldn’t suggest using duct tape on that busted iPod, but some people tend to toss things out of convenience when the needed repair is actually cheap and easy. Mending tears in clothing, for example, or even changing the fit, cut and hemline of pants or skirts, is relatively inexpensive especially when you weigh it against the cost of buying a whole new garment. Furniture may be dated in pattern or paint, but a gallon of paint or even a total reupholster job might be all it needs to shine again. It is easy to do these things yourself if you are at all crafty, and this is another case where paying someone to do it for you is cheaper than replacing the item. There are entire online communities that have sprung up to help people who want to stop waste connect with other green minded individuals to swap things that they don’t need but don’t want to throw away. Freecycle.org is one of these sites, but a quick internet search will turn one up in your area. If you can’t find one, then get your hands on some cheap web hosting, or even better web hosting that you can barter for, and start your own site. After all, they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
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