On the other hand, when you decide you need to go “real” shopping, you might never really consider Goodwill to be your first choice.  Right?

Well, let me introduce you to the concept of second-hand shopping “for real”, which is to say, going to the second-hand clothing store to buy items that you might wear every day, or at least NOT to a pimp & hooker party.  I realize this isn’t a new concept; vintage stores have been around for a while now and happy hipsters are no stranger to the ironic high school t-shirts from the 70′s.  But shopping at vintage stores has always been an unsatisfying experience for me – unless it’s a really REALLY special piece, I don’t hold the belief that clothing, like houses, appreciate in price over time.  So, NO, I don’t want to pay $80 for that dress that probably cost $15 in 1982.  Nice try though.

All of that changed when I discovered Buffalo Exchange.  Merely coming to the realization that places like Buffalo Exchange exist was a revelation for me.

Image courtesy of Time.com; visit the article here

A quick search around the internet tells me that I might be late to the second-hand clothing party, but then again if it took me so long to figure it out, then I know that there are others who haven’t yet.   Anyway, as per my usual disclaimer, this blogger is not paid to endorse or hawk any particular product or store, but if I find a product or a place that I think fits into a  “greener lifestyle” mantra, then I’m happy to talk about it.   Here’s a few reasons why I enjoy shopping at Buffalo Exchange so much:

1. Their clothes are not so “vintage”. Most of the clothing that seems to show up at the Exchange is from within the past 10 years or so… Sure, there’s some vintage items in there, but it’s actually contemporary stuff.  It’s a bit like having the chance to raid your roommate’s closet except that you are raiding ALL roommate’s closets all at once.
2. The prices are well within reason. Shopping at this second-hand clothing store – which sells both used AND new stuff – will not break your bank.  Most of the clothing I’ve bought has been between $12 – $20, and every once in a while, if you’re lucky, you’ll come across a pair of jeans or a designer piece that was once sold for upward of $200.  It might still cost you $50 at the Exchange, but it beats paying the original marked-up price.  (Back to my housing analogy, I think clothes are much more like cars, in that there is always an initial sticker price that is jacked up for name-brand appeal, and then as soon as you put it on it is worth about half as much.  But I will save my lecture about buying used cars for another post…)
3. Having less choice is sometimes really awesome. So this may not make too much sense, but let me explain.  Sometimes when I walk into a store, and they have an entire section devoted to cute dresses, each in about four or five different colors, I become really overwhelmed.  I am a very careful decision maker and if I like even two or three of those dresses, I could spend an entire evening trying to decide which two I want, and in which colors.  Buffalo Exchange takes that stress away from me.  There’s something almost liberating about going straight to your size section and knowing that what’s there is there, and that unless it’s a new piece sold only at the store, you’re not worrying about which colors to get, because that’s your only choice.  AND, per #2 above, you’re probably going to spend less on it, as well.
4. You can sell your own used clothes there too. It’s very satisfying to know that an outfit you might not be interested in wearing anymore might be very appealing to someone else.  My advice is to purge your closet before going, sell your clothes back to them for store credit, and then reward yourself for recycling by shopping!  They rarely buy all of your clothing but if it’s a unique and well-maintained piece, you’ll probably get something for it.  They also take shoes and bags!

In conclusion, next time you need a new outfit, or next time you start to take that bag of old clothes to Goodwill, try Buffalo Exchange, or another local second-hand store*.  Your wallet will appreciate it, as will the planet, since you’ll be diverting those materials from the waste stream.

*Note:  it’s been my experience that consignment stores are much more complicated than the second-hand stores that I am speaking about… If I remember correctly there are usually membership fees involved, but you should investigate for yourself if a consignment store might be as good – or a better – option.

• Buffalo Exchange   (www.buffaloexchange.com)
• Recently featured in Women’s Day and Lucky magazines
• 14 states nation-wide  (Including two here in Portland!)

Plastic bag-woven wine bottle carrier!

I’d like to think that the t-shirt quilt that I’m trying to make is upcycling, but as with many sewing projects for me, it’s turning out to be hairier than I initially thought.  You see, I already had this fleece blanket from IKEA, so I thought I would size the patches that I cut out from the t-shirts to fit the blanket, and everything would be great.  Except that the tag for the blanket said that it was  51″ x 67″ – which I trusted – and as it turns out, it’s closer to 51″ by about 56″.  And this is a problem because I sized the patches to fill the blanket along 60″ of length!  So I’m going to have to sew the patches about an inch short each.  Three cheers for improvisation!

T-shirts pre-cutting

T-shirts after I've cut out the good bits

Patches after they've been ironed onto stabilizer backing and laying them out onto the blanket

If you know me, you’ve probably seen one of these t-shirts before… or perhaps you’ve even given one of them to me!  The point of this exercise is, they’ve outgrown their usefulness in my wardrobe but they all mean something to me, and I wanted to hang on to them without having a large pile of unused t-shirts in my closet.  So I am putting them all in one place, and the scraps are being donated to either the rag or recycling piles.

Anyway, here’s to DIY projects and keeping something else out of the wastestream!  (And if anyone has any t-shirt quilt suggestions for me, by all means post them below, I could probably use the help…)

Soooo… if you are looking to run out and get in on the Cash for Clunkers this weekend, go as an informed consumer!  Take a look at Treehugger’s Top 10 Most Fuel Efficient Cars to Buy with your government rebate.  I bet you can’t guess what number one is!  Ok you probably can.    But the rest of the list is worth looking at!

Image courtesy of Treehugger: Oh Prius, why must you be so good at everything?

One that I can think of that might not be so bad is hopping on your bike and riding to a movie theater to see a film.  You aren’t wasting any fuel or creating carbon emissions!  (Although if it’s a Michael Bay film, let’s be honest, the environmental damage is probably already done.)  In any case, treat yourself to some popcorn for burning those calories on your bike ride there.  Maybe you’ll even see Food, Inc. and you’ll learn about corn, and the problem of ethanol (I haven’t seen the movie yet, do they talk about that?)… oh well, you get my point.

In conclusion, maybe the next time you think, “I need a nap”, you should just go ahead and nap, and you can feel good about it, because think about how you are NOT contributing more greenhouse gases to global warming!  Score. 

I am originally from Cincinnati and they had one as well, called Building Value.  Does your community have a building supply recycling center?  If so, post in the comments!

Still though, as I leave another apartment behind and go in search of where I belong, I have to wonder what constitutes “home” for me. Sure, there will always be my “hometown”, but there are so many different ways to regard home. If home is where the heart is, then I must say my home is everywhere I have a friend or loved one. And although I placed such a strong value on the goods I ended up keeping, they do not make a home. Hopefully they will make it more interesting though, whenever I decide to settle down.

But, what does “home” mean to you?

“More than 98% of supposedly natural and environmentally friendly products on US supermarket shelves are making potentially false or misleading claims, Congress has been told. And 22% of products making green claims bear an environmental badge that has no inherent meaning, said Scot Case, of the environmental consulting firm TerraChoice.”

This, my friends, means that there’s a LOT of greenwashing going on.  Greenwashing is, of course, the situation that occurs when a company makes claims that their product is environmentally friendly when, in fact, it is not.  But to hear that up to 98% of the products on our shelves are doing this is quite frustrating.  The article even cites a refrigerator that claimed an Energy Star rating that, in reality, it didn’t earn.

If consumers can’t trust the labels on the products that we are buying, how do we know that we are buying earth-friendly products?  We don’t, without doing a lot of research, that we likely don’t have time for.

Companies need to stop greenwashing and start putting their money where their trees are planted!