The way Americans spend their dollars can influence manufacturers in ways that improve the environment, and one of the best ways to help is to buy less.

“That doesn’t mean doing with less, although simplifying anyone’s life is a good idea in the long run,” says Diane MacEachern, author of Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World (Avery, 2008, $17.95 paperback). “But there are so many ways to get what we need without buying and accelerating the use of natural resources that are shrinking.”

She recommends using Web sites such as Craigslist, Freecycle or Swaptree.

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Oh, and before I forget, yard sales are another source of terrific money-saving finds. Infants and toddlers outgrow their toys, clothes and shoes long before they wear out, and baby furniture can pass through multiple generations in good shape. I’ve scored such brilliant yard sale trophies that I’m embarrassed to say I only paid a dollar. And if even a dollar is too steep, point your browser to (http://www.freecycle.org) . Just follow the prompts to find the location closest to you. Clothes, dishes, phones, tires, toys, sporting equipment, even computers - everything on this site is free, on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Armed with everything from baby clothes to old sofas, people all over Yuma say they’re having fun changing the world - one freebie at a time.

They all belong to an international recycling movement built around lessons that mom taught us: It’s better to give than to receive, helping others feels good, and one person’s junk is another’s treasure.

That’s the magic of Freecycle.

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Freecycle.org seems to me to be the biggest of all the grassroots movements on the Web that seeks the Earth’s sustainability through re-use. The idea? Instead of throwing something out (perhaps something that can’t be picked up by the local recycling truck), post it on the Web to other members of your local Freecycle group as being free for the taking. Looking to get something for free? You can publish wanted ads too.

A friend of mine recently turned me on to the existence of the Freecycle group in my area. I’m not sure if all groups work the same but the one I’m a member of uses Yahoo Groups as the place to which four different types of posts get posted: OFFER, WANTED, TAKEN, RECEIVED. As a member of the group, I elect whether to have new posts forwarded to my inbox as they are posted to the Yahoo Group, or aggregated in summary form twice per day.Click here to read the blog in full

Though TreeHugger prefers Buy Nothing Day to the sheer madness of Black Friday, that doesn’t mean you have to live with less or even that you can’t acquire stuff; a great way to do this is with something like The Freecycle Network (it really works!). The big day has passed, but the Network rolls on, and remains a good way to both find and get rid of stuff without having to involve any money.Click here to read this and other fantastic green & recycling related articles at Treehugger.com

Tip 1: Make the Store Your Last Choice
Most people’s default response is to go to a store anytime they need something, but that’s not the only way to obtain a needed item. Ask yourself these questions:

Can I get it for free?
If you don’t need something right away, and you usually don’t, it’s worth searching on community ad sites like Craigslist or Kijiji, signing up with some local Freecycle groups, and asking around to see if anyone you know is getting rid of whatever you want.Click here to read the article in full

Everyone cleans out the closet, the garage and any other storage space available around the house. At that point, the issue becomes what to do with the pile of items no longer in use. The answer just might be a local Internet message board called Freecycle.

After having sampled some of the listings on the Las Vegas Freecycle Web site, Veronica Sproul decided it might be a good thing for Pahrump and started the process to activate the Web site.

Click Here to Read More About Pahrump Freecycle!

# Check online for sites offering free items. People post items on freecycle.org they no longer want. All you do is pick them up. Search Freecycle by city and post what you want or what you want to give away. Sales are prohibited.Click here to read the article in full

Rather than discarding unwanted items in a landfill, some local residents have joined a network that allows them to give the objects away to others.

Meet Farmington Freecycle!

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Instead of spending $15, $20 or more on your child’s (or your own) Halloween costume, you can save both money and resources by creating your own. Dig through your closets or browse local resale shops and flea markets for vintage clothes that could make fun costumes. Or put out a request through your local Freecycle or craigslist for used costumes. You’re probably not the only person in your neighborhood to have a few costumes from Halloweens past buried in the back of your closet.
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