How to Have a Green Garage Sale

So, you’re thinking about having a garage sale. That’s pretty cool and sounds easy enough. The thing is, you are pretty passionate about doing things in an eco-friendly fashion and so you want to do it in a way that will be “green”.

Well first things first: Actually, being that you are holding a garage sale to begin with, you are already taking a “green approach” because you are recycling used items by selling them. However, if you want to take it a few steps further, we have five of them in mind:

Get some others to join in. “Being green” isn’t just about conserving resources. It’s also about supporting the community as a whole. So, why not invite a few friends or people in the neighborhood to bring some of their used items over as well? After all, the more the merrier, right?

Prepare the items with household cleaning products. No one wants to buy dirty clothes or dusty electronics, so before you put a price tag on anything, make sure that you have thoroughly cleaned them. You can do this by avoiding the toxic chemicals from more commercialized products and instead, using cleaning products that you can make from the convenience of your own home. Vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice can do wonders to just about anything. AllYou.com.com has a list of 31 household cleaning tips and HowtoCleanAnything.com has a feature on old-fashioned cleaning recipes (just go to both websites and put those phrases in the search fields).

Advertise without paper (or with recycled paper). Thanks to the internet, you don’t have to depend (as much) on putting poster board signs on trees to get the word out. You can post a message on your Facebook profile page or Twitter account. You can also use websites like Craigslist and OLX to share the word. If you must use paper, opt for going with a recycled brand. Office Max is a national chain that sells them.

Negotiate instead of tagging. Another way that you can spare a few “pieces of tree bark” is by not price-tagging your items. Instead, be open to actually discussing prices with potential buyers. You can usually get a better deal when you negotiate, anyway.

Educate others. A yard sale is a time when you will come into contact with people that you probably wouldn’t any other way and may not ever again. While some people may be pretty “eco-friendly savvy”, the reality is that a lot of customers are probably more interested in the garage sale than the fact that it’s a “green” one. So, why not use this as an opportunity to do a bit of educating. Maybe make a list of 10 things that people can do to be more eco-friendly, some household cleaning recipes or some contacts within the city that have a “green” agenda. You can hand it to people once the sale is complete. It’s probably not something they are used to getting and when it comes to providing eco-friendly insights, it’s definitely a great way to do your part.