Day 349 – 5 Questions to Consider When Shopping To Help the Planet

What if there was a way to shop twice as much and help the planet? I have to admit I do want to help the planet when I shop and set intentions to make sure I help the planet.

Day 349: Give 349

My husband calls me cheap. I call myself a value shopper. Before I make a purchase I always ask myself a few key questions.

1) Is the purchase going to help the planet or adding to it’s destruction?

2) Will it harm me or my family (how toxic is the item)?

3) Will it add more waste to our already overfilled landfills?

4) Does the company I am purchasing from give back with the purchase? (one for one to charity like Tom’s Shoes or a portion of the sale going to charity)

5) Is it a really good deal! (on sale, deep discount, FREE!)

I needed two new items this weekend – a stroller and a dresser for my sons room. My husband and I hit a few stores to check out styles and pricing. He found the exact stroller that had all the gadgets to suit our needs and wanted to buy it on the spot. It would have cost us $400! The dresser – another $300. Money I would much rather give to charity.

I told him we would wait and I would go shopping on one of my favourite sites for both items and help the planet while I do this!

The Craigslist. If you are not familiar with the Craigslist you need to take a look. You can search by your city as they have them all over the world. It is a free online classified site where you can buy what you need or sell what you want to get rid of. (let’s avoid the landfill!) You can find a house to a car to a pair of shoes. When it comes to kids gear it is the best place to look. As fast as we buy the gear for our kids we are ready to get rid of it as kids move to a new stage of their life or it just wasn’t the perfect item for your needs after all.

What I love about the Craigslist is it is the perfect place to reuse an item.

Do we really need one more brand new stroller in the world that will one day get dumped into a landfill and never decompose?

Have you ever thought of all the toxins that come off a new stroller and into your child’s body?

My search began and in just minutes I found exactly what I wanted:

The matching dresser to go with my son’s bed ($120 no tax  vs $300 with tax)

The stroller my husband wanted in the store (just 4 months old barely used). ($100 no tax vs $400 with tax)

Savings: Over $500

The next time you decide you need to make a purchase go check out 3 of my favourite sites for shopping. It will save you money and save the planet.

Craigslist
Freecycle
Kiji

If you have a favourite site you use for reusing and purchasing items leave us a comment and we will share it!
Time Commitment: 1 hour longer than buying it in the store

Cost: I saved over $500 (taxes included) by buying second hand