One of the best ways to be frugal and green at the same time is to not buy something at all! I am a huge fan of bartering and do it as often as I can. You can barter for large or small items, services or anything else you can think of. My husband and I once bartered our old conversion van (we called it the flatlander van because it couldn’t make it up our mountain at more than 5 mph) for 4 cords of wood that kept us toasty warm for half of the winter. I’ve bartered hockey skates for soccer cleats and most recently I bartered space in my barn and pastures for fencing work, a pig to put in my freezer this winter and the use of the pigs to till me up some new garden space. I won’t be planting the new section until next year, and so they get to eat for free and I won’t have to till up new soil.
I also belong to my local Freecycle group – which sends me an email requesting swaps every other day or so. This is a great place to list things that you don’t want anymore but may be useful to someone else and they keep the groups local, so you won’t have to make large shipping or travel arrangements.
As for some of the new dvd and book swap sites, I haven’t tried any of them yet, so I’m not ready to endorse one. But I’m on it – so I’ll let you know the results. And if you’ve tried one, let me know how it went – I’d be happy to publish your comments on the topic.
The Organically Inclined newsletter will also be publishing a Swap It section, so if you have something you’d like to swap – seeds, magazines, books, etc. – send me an email, or visit http://www.organicallyinclined.org/swapit.html
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