Thrift Stores-Ultimate recycling green stores (mpg, buy, paper, repair)

[Artemesia]

Hi Ya'll-I've been conditioned to carefully shop at thrift stores since before my zygote sprouted a spine. Some of them are sort of skanky, but it's often the grungy ones that I find the most amazing bargains. I'm proud as punch of my many treasures and useful used items and I'm even more proud that I didn't pay retail for them.

For me, the best GREEN is the cash I don't spend, (mostly because I don't have it to spend in the first place, so it isn't really SAVED).

My credenza is a Thomasville solid pecan 9 drawer beauty with carved doors and scroll carved double track drawers. $50.00 and some sandpaper, a little cherry stain and it looks like a $1,200 showpiece.

I made a beautiful faux fireplace out of the top of one of those funky waterbed headboards with little side cabinets, mirrored back, and railing and it's lighted. It's the perfect height for a fireplace and mantle and I just put a series of candles in front of the mirror. They reflect out into the room and it's very very romantic and pretty and made a great place to display some other chatzkies I've collected.

Clothes are the easiest to save money on and I've learned how to make great outfits out of separates and well made quality brand name items that some silly woman paid full price for and possibly wore once or twice and then donated it just so I could buy it for $6.00. Thankyou foolish full price paying consumers!!! Cha ching!!

Now that I have grandkids I'm having a ball getting amazing top brand toys for them that someone paid a small fortune for. For Christmas each grandchild got a full set of Fisher Price playsets and I paid about $8.00 per set. I washed and sterilized these toys and organized them in another thrift store abundant product, baskets.

Sooo, call out for others who get such a charge out of saving the green, supporting a LOCAL store, and re-using something that someone paid full price for.

[miu]

My clothing and furniture additions for the last few years have been from thrift shops or garbage picking. I hardly buy anything that is brand new.

[Artemesia]

Dumpster Diving is pretty disgusting but I have to admit that I've done it a lot. In urban residential areas trash day can be quite the boon to those willing to start early in the morning before the trucks get there. My sister got the prettiest hutch that was sitting out on the curb. It needed new glass in the doors but $30.00 later she had a showpiece in her dining room. I think with good taste and some skill lots of "trash" can become real treasures.

Particle board, laminate vennered and cheap stuff are usually not worth the effort to haul home.

I've re-disgarded as much as I've hauled home when i realized that I would either not have time, space, or money to repair something that was just getting in the way.

The best thing I've ever recycled is a house. It was built in 1868 and had been abandoned since the 1940s. We evicted the skunks, wasps, and other critters and after 12 years, it's the cutest shack on the street and worth about 5 times what I paid for it in 1996. On the other hand, it's drafty, bug ridden, and can hear change jingling in my pocket from a mile away and something will break if it anticipates a momentary bulge of cash in my wallet. The old home and I have a truely co-dependent relationship and for all the cursing I still love it.

I design homes for folks with far more money than myself and as much as I envy their new smooth walls, level floors, sealed windows, etc. their subdivisions can't hold a candle to the old part of town with full grown trees, huge yards, main street access and unique charms.

[StealthRabbit]

I 'thrift-store' shop for cars...

Abandoned Vehicle Auctions... locally ~ 300 cars sold per week. I have bought (10) 50 mpg VW diesels there, (Rabbits, Golfs, Jettas, Vans) most for under $100. I get my tires at the junk yard for $5 each.