With the holiday season quickly approaching (yeah, I said it), I am reposting all my Eco Friendly Shopping Picks articles from my column on One Green Planet. This one on Fair Trade Jewelry was originally published on July 19, 2011:

When you put on that necklace, what goes through your mind? How does this make me look? Is this the right fit? What about, how does the purchase of this affect people’s lives around the world? Buying Fair Trade jewelry ensures that the people behind the production of your everyday necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets are being paid adequate wages, endure decent working conditions, and have fair terms of trade for their products. Fair Trade requires companies to pay sustainable prices for products, thus addressing the injustices of conventional trade, which exploits workers in developing countries.

At EcoPlum, we sell Jewelry from Shanti Boutique. The reason we selected Shanti as our first Fair Trade jewelry supplier, is that they are a Green America approved company. We have a tremendous amount of respect for the Green America approval process and knew that any company that passed their screening process had to have Fair Trade principles ingrained in their business practices.  But Shanti is also a member of the Fair Trade Federation, so that gives us double confidence!

In a bit I will give you some tips about my favorite Shanti products, but first I’d like to share a little about Shanti’s inspirational founder, Crystal Water.  She started Shanti Boutique because she wanted to create a business that offered unique fair trade jewelry to fill a niche market of yoga and well-being with everything she loved incorporated into it — travel, fair trade, design, health, languages, green business, internet, and wearable and meaningful art/jewelry (among other things too long to list).  She saw it as a means to improve lives in developing countries through practicing fair trade principles while providing conscious options to consumers.  A portion of all proceeds are donated to the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation, a cause very close to Crystal’s heart.  She serves on the board of this foundation and personally sponsors a Tibetan child and a Tibetan elder.  She says her initial goal in starting Shanti was to make fun and meaningful jewelry that supported fair trade and charity, and this goal has remained consisted in the 7 years since she started the company.  Crystal enjoys traveling on business to India with her family, where they all experience high adventure together. “It’s a pleasure to run Shanti Boutique,” says Water, “it’s just about the love for people and the planet. A small business with our little mission of trying to make some difference in the world.”

I really enjoy working with Crystal and I personally love her jewelry. I realize jewelry is a very personal thing, and while some people love big dangly colorful items, others go for the dainty and classic. What I love about Shanti is that there is something for everyone. I recently wore my 7 Chakras Dangling Earrings and matching 7 Chakras Well-Being Necklace to my dear friend’s 45th birthday party. I’m not really that into yoga and spiritual things, but I have to admit I felt some energy coming from this jewelry as I got comment after positive comment from the partygoers. “Chakra” is a Sanskrit word that means “wheel” or “turning.” It is used in many Hindu texts and practices, and refers to the “force center” or “energy center” of the body. If you don’t believe in that thing, you can wear it and buy yourself a cup of Fair Trade coffee; that works too.

For a completely different look, consider the Hamsa Protection Earrings and the Hamsa Protection Necklace, to match. The Hamsa is popular in the Middle East as a defense against the evil eye. It is also a symbol of good luck in Jewish mysticism.

Hamsa isn’t really your thing? Then how about the Heart Wire Wrap Necklace? This lightweight piece goes well with pretty much any casual outfit. Earrings-wise, I also like the Heart Wrap Earrings. They are simple and intricate at the same time; small enough to be comfortable, and big enough to be noticed.

Last, but certainly not least on the list of accessories are our Fair Trade rings. My favorite one is the Namaste Ring. I’m sure many of you have heard the term “Namaste” used in your yoga classes. For those of you who haven’t, Namaste is a customary greeting and salutation in India. It also has connotations of recognizing the spirit within, honor and love.

I hope some of these suggestions help! No matter what, your purchase will be Fair Trade Federation certified, which makes it a good purchase. Happy shopping!

Please note:  The Love Heart Wrap Earrings are no longer available, so I replaced the link with the Lotus Love Earrings.

Halloween is such a fun holiday for kids and adults alike – who doesn’t like dressing up in a costume and eating candy?  Unfortunately, it’s one of our more wasteful days: Halloween costumes alone account for at least 6250 tons of landfill waste a year, or the weight of 2500 midsize cars, according to the folks at greenhalloween.org. Whoa!  I have to admit, when my kids were little, I couldn’t wait to go out and buy them a brand new adorable Halloween costume every year, not even thinking about the fact that the costume would be worn once, and then thrown away.  It didn’t even occur to me that there were millions of other costumes out there that other kids had worn once last year, that were also getting thrown away, and that would make perfectly good costumes for my kids this year.  Turns out, there is a national movement of costume swapping going on, and it’s not too late to get involved for this Halloween!

This Saturday, October 8th, is National Costume Swap Day.  It also happens to be Yom Kippur, so those of us celebrating the Jewish Holy Day will be starving in Temple on Saturday – BUT – the great thing is – the swap doesn’t have to happen on THAT particular day.  You can check out all the swaps happening in your neck of the woods (see, a lot in the NY area are NOT on Saturday), or you can plan and register your own swap event!  I am so excited about this because – well – I am a pack rat and I still have some of my kids’ adorable costumes up in storage.  Now I can finally get rid of them and know they are being used to make another kid’s Halloween fun and green.

Talia's First Halloween - Moo!

Even without an actual swap event, you can participate in this easy way to green your Halloween (and save money too!)  For example, my daughter Talia wants to be a Zombie Cheerleeder this year.  Turns out, her friend Allison was a Zombie Cheerleeder last year, happens to be a little bigger than Talia, and she still has her costume.  Voila!  We are all set for Zombie Cheerleading!  And Allison is getting her costume from another friend.  And so on, and so on…

Another important thing to remember this Halloween is that face paints and some kinds of make up can be pretty damn toxic and you should think twice about putting that stuff on your kid’s skin.  Check out these great tips from our friends at Zosimos Botanicals on using Vegan make up for Halloween .

So go ahead, find or register for a costume swap day event near you, and please tell us all about it when it’s over – and send photos too!  Happy GREEN Halloween!

Related Articles on EcoPlum:

Have One’s Pumpkin and Eat it Too

Tricks for a Green Halloween

A Responsible Sugar Fix

Last weekend was my son Noah’s Bar Mitzvah (that would explain my infrequent posts over the last year). It was AWESOME!!!! But I’m not here to boast or bore you with my personal feelings of pride and contentment. No. What I want to share is how a small shift in thinking can make a big difference. Depending on where you live, you may have never heard of a Bar Mitzvah or you may have been to quite a few. It’s a Jewish coming of age ritual for 13 year old boys and girls. Anyway, after the service it is customary to have a luncheon or banquet or party of some kind. Going into this, I knew there would be waste and a footprint associated with the party but I also knew I wanted to minimize it however I could. So, here are a few choices we made that when adopted by others too, could help lessen our collective impact:

• We chose a “sustainable” caterer that used organic and sustainably sourced food. All leftovers were donated to the homeless shelter in the same building.
• We asked the caterer to remove the plastic bottled water from the menu and instead provide pitchers of iced tap water.
• We used China, silverware, and glasses instead of disposable dinnerware.
• The place cards were made of plantable wildflower seed paper.
• We used potted flowered plants as centerpieces. People took them home to plant in their gardens.
• The kids’ giveaways were reusable stainless steel water bottles customized with Noah’s name and filled with candy.
• Instead of a steady flow of plastic junk from the MC/DJ that is customary at these events – sunglasses, glo sticks, hats, flashing LED wands, pins and necklaces – we had one 3D LED necklace per kid (I know- better to have none – but we didn’t want to spoil all the fun!)
• We minimized the meat on the menu serving mostly veggie, fish, and pasta.
• One thing that could have been less wasteful was our invitations. Although we used FSC certified paper (we could not find any affordable invitations made of recycled paper) we still had a card for the service, another card for the reception and a third reply card with envelope to be sent back via snail mail. I later got a number of invitations to his classmates’ events with a simple reply to email address. Good idea. Should have done that (although I have to admit I enjoyed receiving all the reply cards with personal notes and smiley faces on them and will keep them all in a memory box).

So, whether you are throwing a huge party for a life cycle event, or just going about your daily routine, think about the small changes you can make that could reduce waste and emissions.  I’m sure that compared to some, my event may seem extravagant and wasteful, and compared to others it may seem green and frugal.  The point is, no matter where you are along the spectrum of conservation and environmentalism, it’s important to think about the choices you are making and ask yourself: Is this really necessary?  Is there a less wasteful way to do this?  Is there a greener alternative.  My friends at the Broadway Green Alliance say that there is no such thing as “green”, only “greener.”  Just by living we are consuming resources every day.  The question to ask is: what small changes can I make to reduce my impact, while still maintaining (or enhancing) the quality of life I love?

Kids tend to see things in black and white: You don’t like me? You must hate me. He’s not smart, he must be stupid. For many of us, the tendency to present a False Dilemma carries forward into adulthood. Big kid that I am, I often forget the shades of gray in between choices and tend to think in extremes. So when I embarked on my environmentalist journey, I became passionate about minimizing my environmental impact in every aspect of my life and left little room for transgressions. I stopped buying plastic water bottles, started carrying around reusable bags and coffee mugs, switched to organic produce, cut down on my energy use, stopped buying things I didn’t need, reduced my water use, practically eliminated my meat consumption, switched to natural cleaning products, stopped using disposable dinnerware & Ziploc bags, bought a home seltzer maker, and cut down on my water use.

I thought if I could just get everybody else to do what I did, the world would move quickly in a direction of healing and repair. I went on a mission to spread the word about my enlightened way of life and thought that through education and sharing of experiences I could get others to follow suit. I became a green hall monitor, of sorts, and found myself giving the evil eye to all those bottle drinking, plastic bag toting, meat eating planet destroyers out there. Now, while quite a few people have told me that I’ve inspired them to change their habits, so many more have not even thought about changing the way they live. Why? Could it be that my drastic transformation from over-consuming materialist to radical greenie is rare, and that it represents one extreme? Maybe expecting the majority of consumers to give up the majority of their consuming habits is just unrealistic?

Then I started to look back at my own evolution and realized that I, too, was living in a shade of gray. For example: I didn’t completely give up eating meat because I wasn’t ready to stop making my favorite ragout sauce, but when I do eat it I make sure it is grass fed and organic. I still buy paper towels because, for some things, I just want to throw away the mess, but I buy towels made of 100% post-consumer content. I’m pretty good about not buying or drinking bottled water, but if I find myself in a situation where is the only choice of beverage that I have (i.e. it is given out at a conference where there is no access to tap water), I will drink it and make sure I recycle the bottle. So if the (self proclaimed) queen of green herself isn’t living a purely green life, then surely others can do the same? Maybe encouraging this shade of gray will actually rally more people into a greener lifestyle. Maybe I was going about it all wrong with my “green police” attitude. Cast a wider net, my husband likes to say, and you will catch more fish.

So goodbye, black and white, and hello green! If you are not ready to make drastic changes in your lifestyle, then OK, start with little steps. Make a change that doesn’t make you feel frustrated to the point of giving up. Pick something and stick with it. Then pick something else. Here are a few easy things you can take on:

#1: Stop buying plastic disposable water bottles. Carry around your own reusable bottle in your backpack, briefcase, shoulder bag, or purse.

#2: Stop using disposable plastic shopping bags. Carry around at least one Chicobag with you – these definitely fit easily into your pocketbook, briefcase, even pocket.

#3: Recycle at home and at work. Check out our “What do do with your stuff” page for where and how to recycle different types of materials.

#4: Stop using disposable coffee cups. Carry around your own reusable coffee mug. Ask for a ceramic “for here” cup if you plan to hang around the coffee shop to enjoy your coffee.

#5: Stop buying wrapping paper – use colorful newspaper, children’s art projects, reusable gift bags or cloth for your gifts.

#6: Stop using disposable wrap and bags for your kids’ lunches. Instead purchase reusable bags and lunch materials.

#7: Eat less meat. Reducing the amount of meat you eat can have a significant impact on the environment – methane from cows is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

#8: Take public transportation whenever you are in a city. Check this out for a guide of public transportation options in your city.

#9: Ask yourself “do I really need it?” when you are about to buy a new appliance. If you do need it, make sure it is Energy Star rated.

#10: Stop using paper plates and utensils. If absolutely necessary, buy ones made of recycled and biodegradable material.

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but the subtitle to this blog is “Confessions of a Reformed Consumer.” Well it doesn’t get much more reformed than this: just a few years ago I was longing for shoes, handbags, and lots of good STUFF for my birthday. Why a perfect birthday usually included a stop at Saks Fifth Avenue to buy something totally frivolous for myself. A Composter??? Growing up, I used to confuse the words “Compost” and “Compote” – I knew one was a fruity jam and the other was a stinky mess. In fact, I was so careful not to use the wrong word because if I said “compost” it would be like saying “toilet” or “sewer” (not that I didn’t already have a huge potty mouth back then, but I didn’t want to use this term in the wrong context). My main association with the word “compost” was with the disgusting pile of food garbage my mom would keep in the kitchen and periodically throw out in her vegetable garden as “fertilizer”. Yuck.

Boy have I changed my tune. It’s not that I don’t still find the concept of keeping food scraps around until they decompose repulsive, it’s that I find the act of creating unnecessary landfill waste even more repulsive. Plus, food scraps in landfills quickly decompose into Methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide. While some waste facilities capture Methane to convert it back into energy, most do not. According to Zero Waste, Inc. “For every 1 ton of food scraps separated from the trash before it gets to the landfill, the equivalent of 6 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) is prevented from being released into the atmosphere.”

Yes, I live in New York City, and I really have no need for fresh soil or fertilizer, and I have absolutely no place to dispense of compost output, but I will find a way. A few months back, I read a review on composters in the Wall Street Journal – of all places. It gave the Nature Mill Indoor Composter a very good rating, especially for an urban environment. (Full disclosure: EcoPlum gets a small referral fee for any sales that result from clicking on the link I just provided). I got very excited about the prospect of being able to know I was doing the right thing with regard to food waste, and still keep my urban kitchen looking chic and smelling great. But the price tag was a bit prohibitive. So, what better time to ask my husband to splurge on this apparatus – MY 46th BIRTHDAY (which is next Wednesday, June 2nd – in case you wanted to know)!

So, Honey, all I want for my birthday is a composter. I promise it won’t bring bugs and smells to our apartment, and I will know that I am doing one more thing to reduce landfill waste and greenhouse gas emissions. Don’t get me wrong, I will probably still treat myself to a facial or some other pampering activity, but the days of shopping just to shop are over. Who thought I’d ever get there??

Buy Now from Gaiam.com

Every day I walk into Starbucks and get my Decaf Grande Americano in a personal cup. And every day Wendy asks me – would you like receipt? Not to pick on Wendy, she’s the best, but why would I want a receipt for my $2.67 coffee? No thanks, no receipt, I say. Most of the time the receipt gets printed anyway, gets ripped off and tossed away right in front of me. That’s silly.

When it comes to preventing waste, the whole paper receipt thing hasn’t caught too many people’s attention. Receipts just seem so small and harmless compared to, say, the plastic shopping bags you stick them in. And if I had to pick one battle to fight, the shopping bag wins. But the environmental cost of receipts should not be ignored. According to Alletronic, an electronic receipt software provider, 9,600,000 trees are cut down each year just to produce paper receipts. And to make matters worse, thermal paper receipts can’t be recycled because of the chemicals used in making them.

There are many things about my obsessive compulsive personality that have interfered with my quest to lower my environmental impact. From being reluctant to remove Clorox wipes from my cleaning routine to having trouble accepting the whole “if it’s yellow let it mellow” concept, I’ve had to call upon many years of therapy to change some of my more “neat and tidy” habits. So the thought of NOT getting a receipt for an ATM withdrawal was a concept that also took a while for me to warm up to. I was so anal, not only did I always used to get the receipt, but I would take it home and reconcile it against my bank statement. Call me a nerd, but it was my way of life before I became conscious of reducing the amount of waste I produced. So the first time I answered “NO” to the ATM’s “Would you like a printed receipt?” query, I have to admit I was a little nervous. What if the bank deducted the wrong amount and I did not have a receipt prove it, what then? Slowly I got over this irrational concern – realizing that in reality, if the bank’s records were incorrect, my one paper ATM withdrawal receipt wasn’t really going to help prove much. Scary thought.

But, OK, for those situations where a receipt does prove to be useful, such as a product return or disputed credit card charge, is the actual paper receipt at the point of sale really necessary? With all our iPhones and Blackberries and the like, couldn’t an electronic receipt fill the exact same purpose with a lot less waste? This recent post by software advisor Don Fornes makes a pretty compelling case for ditching the paper receipt. Please take a minute to take his poll about paper receipts. And please do make that coffee extra hot, but hold sugar and the thermal paper.

This past Saturday, I spent the day with actor Matthew Modine and 1,000 other parents, educators, students, vendors, facilities managers and community leaders at the Green Schools Alliance Resource Fair here in NYC. OK, I didn’t really “spend” time with Matthew Modine. Actually, I didn’t even talk to him and I arrived a little late for his presentation, but the point is that he and I and 1,000 other folks decided to spend a precious spring Saturday indoors, away from our families, because we all believe that school should be a place for our kids to learn about environmental stewardship in a safe, non-toxic facility.

The event was a mix of presentations, break-out workshops, and a resource fair with almost 100 exhibitors showcasing everything from “litter free lunch” materials to climate education to various schools’ green accomplishments.  What’s amazing is that many of these school greening efforts were spearheaded by parent volunteers who selflessly devoted hours and hours to working on committees, meeting with the school administration as well as the NYC Board of Education, decoding the maze of city bureaucracy, dealing with unions and associations, all so that our kids learn to be responsible citizens of planet earth while not getting exposed to toxic chemicals and wasteful practices at such an early age.

The speakers were all inspirational – I was so excited to hear Jamie Cloud of The Cloud Institute speak about the importance of teaching systems thinking, and to hear about Matthew Modine’s Bicycle for a Day program.  Steve Ritz’s stories of converting Bronx teens from craving “Crack to Cucumbers” through his urban farming program at school literally brought tears to my eyes.  After attending so many depressing presentations over the last few months in the wake of Copenhagen, it was heart warming to hear so much optimism and hope for our future.  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that PS 166, where my daughter goes and my son went to elementary school, was presented with an award for winning the Green Cup Challenge for New York- a contest in which schools competed regionally to reduce their energy use over a month.  This was again due to the efforts of some unbelievably dedicated parents and a cooperative school administration.

What struck me the most about this event, in addition to the shear number of participants, was the interesting break down in the background of the participants.  While a large number of them were true greenies who have been fighting for the environment for decades, an equally large number were reformed MIGGs like me, only relatively recently clued in to the dangers that wasteful practices, processed food and toxic products have on the health of our children, ourselves and our planet.  This is an excellent thing to see, all of us working together towards the same goal, all of us getting our butts out of bed, missing brunch, baseball and soccer games in the park, and forgoing other Saturday happenings to secure a better future for our children and their children as well.

1/12/2011 – This post was originally written in January 2010, but it still applies for 2011:

Wow, I had really worked myself into a tizzy by the end of 2009.  I was feeling disappointed about the outcome of Copenhagen, and, well, worried about the future of our planet.  Closer to home, I started to really take offense at all the waste associated with the holiday season.  Add to that the dismal  economy, and the fact that the sun started to set before my youngest child got out of her afterschool classes, well I was feeling pretty bummed.   Luckily for my family, and for you (were you getting sick of my rants?) I snapped out of it.  Not sure if it was the week I spent skiing in Vermont feeling closer to nature than is ever possible here in NYC, or the passing of the shortest day of the year mark, or the break from the school/work routine, but one thing is for sure – THIS IS A TIME FOR RENEWAL. This is a time when we discard our failures and frustrations of the past year and start over.  So many of you have written to me about your attempts to live a more sustainable life and the obstacles you’ve encountered along the way.  You may have read about my attempt to participate in NO IMPACT WEEK only to throw up my hands and say – next time!  Well it’s OK – it’s time for a “do-over” – just like the line from one of my favorite movies, City Slickers, when Billy Crystal’s character tells Daniel Stern’s character that he gets to wipe his slate clean and start over. So for all of you out there who want to renew your commitment to greening your life, GO FOR IT.  Let me help you, let all of us at EcoPlum help you.  Send us your questions, concerns, let us help you find resources, tell us what you would like to read about, to have us investigate for you, tell us what kinds of products you would like to access, think of us as your personal green trainers.  Let’s start by giving you a list of ways to start: Here are 10 suggested Personal Sustainability Practices (PSPs) with some resources to get you started.  Make a pledge to take on one, or more, of these for 2010.  Or make up your own.

#1: Stop buying plastic disposable water bottles. Carry around your own reusable bottle in your backpack, briefcase, shoulder bag, or purse.

#2: Stop using disposable plastic shopping bags. Carry around at least one Chicobag with you – these definitely fit easily into your pocketbook, briefcase, even pocket.

#3: Recycle at home and at work. 1-800-Recycling.com‘s widget is a great resource for this.  Also check out our “What to do with your stuff” page for where and how to recycle different types of materials.

#4: Stop using disposable coffee cups. Carry around your own reusable coffee mug. Ask for a ceramic “for here” cup if you plan to hang around the coffee shop to enjoy your coffee.

#5: Stop buying wrapping paper – use colorful newspaper, children’s art projects, reusable gift bags or cloth for your gifts.  If you must buy it, get recycled gift wrap.

#6: Stop using disposable wrap and bags for your kids’ lunches. Instead purchase reusable bags and lunch materials.

#7: Eat less meat. Reducing the amount of meat you eat can have a significant impact on the environment – methane from cows is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

#8: Take public transportation whenever you are in a city. Check this out for a guide of public transportation options in your city.

#9: Ask yourself “do I really need it?” when you are about to buy a new appliance. If you do need it, make sure it is Energy Star rated.

#10: Stop using paper plates and utensils. If absolutely necessary, buy ones made of recycled and biodegradable material.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful.  We are here to help you every step of the way.  Please share your PSP pledges with us.  And stay tuned for ways to measure your progress. HAPPY NEW YEAR.  Hoping you find a good balance of  peace, happiness, contribution to society and personal fulfillment in 2010.

(This post was updated on 1/7/2011 with new links)

In honor of America Recycles Day, I am attempting to pull together a huge list of “What to do with your stuff.” There are many good resources for different types of recycling and freecycling out there, but I often find that I need to go to several different websites depending on the type of stuff I need to dispose of. So I decided to make a list of all the different ways to get rid of the things you no longer need while making sure those things get reused, recycled, or disposed of in a proper manner. I hope you will add to this list so it will be a wonderful resource for all.

Here we go, let’s start with the obvious, stuff that is collected by “curbside recycling” in your municipality:

Plastic Bottles, Glass Bottles, Aluminum Cans, Paper (Newspaper, Magazines, Printer Paper, Cereal Boxes, Cardboard, etc), Aluminum Containers, and some other plastic containers and aluminum and steel items. Earth911.com has a great tool to lookup what can be recycled in your neck of the woods.

But what about all those take out containers, all the plastic yogurt, cream cheese, butter, whipped cream “tubs” that, at least here in NYC, can’t be recycled through curbside recycling? I was SO EXCITED the other day when I discovered a collection box at Whole Foods for these types of containers through a company, Preserve, that makes products out of recycled yogurt containers and other #5 plastic. Yay! Check out where to find a drop off location for “Gimme 5″ near you!

Next, lightbulbs. Don’t want to throw them in the trash, especially those Compact Florescent ones (CFLS) that contain mercury. Where can I get rid of those? Well, Home Depot has a takeback program for CFLs, look for the big orange boxes in their stores. CFLS are considered “Special Waste” along with Car Batteries, Fluorescent Tubes, Mercury Thermostats, NiCad Batteries, Paint, Rechargeable Batteries, Transmission Fluid, Used Motor Oil, Used Oil Filters, and Used Tires. Again, check Earth911.com for your local Special Waste collection. Here’s the info for NYC Special Waste collection. As for regular old incandescent light bulbs, I have not been able to find any recycling resources. I did find one blog from 2007 that gave some ideas to reuse them for decorations, but that’s it.

Toys, oh those horrible plastic Toys. What to do with them? Well, of course there’s the local church or synagogue, thrift shop, etc. But I’ve been finding more and more that thrift shops no longer want toys. They just throw them away. Many of the holiday toy drives actually request NEW toys. There have to be kids out there that would gladly play with the Bionicle Castle my son outgrew or the puzzles my daughter got bored with! I was very happy to have found Second Chance Toys, an organization that collects and redistributes used toys to children in need. While it doesn’t serve the whole country yet, it looks like a promising organization.

Don’t throw out those shoes or soiled clothes! There are a few organizations out there that collect used shoes: Nike collects old sneakers and makes running tracks, basketball and tennis courts with the ground up parts! Shoe4Africa collects used shoes and sends them to Africa. Cool! What about clothes? We all know that lightly used clothing can be donated to your local thrift shop – but what about the stained clothing with holes in it – how can I avoid sending that to a landfill? Another awesome discovery (although only serving NYC for now) is wearablecollections.com. They will actually take any kind of clothing, shoes, linens, towels, hats and handbags – even if they are ripped or stained or whatever, and recycle them. How cool is that? I am so happy to no longer have to throw away my daughter’s ripped leggings – she always rips them at the knee and I never could give them away – until now!

OK – the last thing I will add here (for now) is how to get rid of EWASTE – computers, televisions, cell phones, etc. – it is a big problem and warrants an entire blog post, but for now here are my recommendations: the EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling program lists Retailers, Manufacturers, and Cell Phone Service Providers with responsible take-back programs. There are a lot of companies out there that collect and “recycle” ewaste, but be very cautious! The US Government Accountability Office reported that exported U.S. e-waste was often disposed of unsafely in countries such as China and India. Make sure the vendor is certified by E-Stewards – a certification program run by the non-profit Basel Action Network.

So, that should cover most of the stuff you want to get rid of. If all else fails, you can always FREECYCLE it.

Please, please, please add your resources to the comments section, to make this the BIGGEST EVER “What to do with your stuff” page!

It’s Blog Action Day today and the topic is CLIMATE CHANGE.

How cool is that (no pun intended)? About 10,000 bloggers around the world are talking about the mess we’ve made of our planet and trying to encourage individuals and world leaders to do something about it. Awesome.

Climate Change. That’s what the EcoPlum Blog is about – every day – so you’ve already heard a lot about what I have to say about this topic. Like how it’s not easy being green, how consumerism is so ingrained in us as individuals, how we are so wasteful without thinking about the consequences, how we can make small changes that collectively make a big difference, and how we are ALL responsible for conserving our limited resources. One of the ways to do that it to just STOP SHOPPING. That may seem strange coming from the founder of a green SHOPPING site. So I’m thinking of changing our slogan from “Where it Pays to Buy Green” to “If you have already exhausted all other options to re-use what you already have and you absolutely have to buy something, then buy it here and buy it green.” Too long?

I just read a blog by Chris Baskind on More Minimal that just stated this so perfectly that I wanted to share it with the world, or at least my subscribers…oh just read it…

Stop Shopping the Planet to Death

Well said, Chris. I just want to add the following. Next time you are out shopping or preparing for a party or even doing a corporate event, ask yourself these questions:

1) Do I REALLY need this?
2) Is there something I can reuse that will perform the same function?
3) If I do buy it, how long will it last, is it reusable, recyclable?
4) What else can I do with this money???

It’s been quite an adjustment for me – I like things all shiny and new and neatly packaged. I still am tempted to buy things like nice neat memo pads at Staples when I have plenty of free memo pads I’ve accumulated from hotels and giveaways. But I resist. Those hotel memo pads don’t look as neat on my desk as the color coordinated pack from Post It, but it’s a small sacrifice to make to save our future.