you have no excuse not to do this.

Here we are, just about a month away from the first farmer's markets of the year. We're super antsy, crazy busy and -- we're not too proud to admit -- just a wee bit nervous. In order to give ourselves a break from the jitters-inducing act of produce data entry (don't try to tell us it's the caffeine), we're revisiting our favorite little project: Spring Cleaning, Zero Waste! Huzzah!

So far, we've tackled the wire hangers and the jewelry boxes (thanks to our bitchin' friends at Yankee Crafty Bitch for that one). Two of the most annoying, abundant clutter-culprits: conquered. What are we left with now?

Clothing. EVERYWHERE.

We would be lying if we said we weren't currently writing this blog sandwiched between two bags of laundry begging to be washed. We would also be lying if we said there wasn't another basket waiting patiently in the closet. We like fashion, OK? It's totally a problem, and we're totally working on it (kind of). In the meantime, however, what to do with the outmoded/ill-fitting (clean) stuff? You know, the sweater that's been hanging out, unworn, in the bottom drawer of our dresser for the past four years? The little black dress that was SO CUTE in the store but somehow morphed into a too-big-on-top-too-short-too-itchy-when-did-I-become-so-short-waisted tragic disaster when we got it home? Folks, it's time to take back our closets and rid ourselves of bizarre outerwear from the late 90's (see photo)!

As you may already know, there are several avenues through which you can unload whatever lurks in the nether regions of your closet. Here they are, laid out for you, with directions, explanations, pros and cons, and a slew of additional information you probably don't need.

Ready? Go:

Consignment:


Second Time Around
Locations EVERYWHERE -- just check the website

Poor Little Rich Girl*
121 Hampshire St.
Inman Square, Cambridge

and

166 Newbury St.
Boston, MA

*Poor Little Rich Girl consignors get 20% off inventory when they shop the store. Hooray! The Davis Square location has closed, however. Boo.

PROS: Probably the most obvious choice for vintage shiz, high-end shiz, etc. They're all over the place, they cater to different aesthetics, and they're run by folks who know fashion in, out, upside down and backwards, so you can pretty much rest assured knowing that you're getting the right price for your grandmother's Bakelite accessories/obscure Comme des Garçons jacket/premium denim. Additionally, some stores offer discounts to sellers, so if you buy used anyway (which you SHOULD, because it's GREENER -- it takes 700 gallons of water to grow the cotton to produce just one t-shirt and cotton is one of the most water- and pesticide-dependent crops), you can save some dough in exchange for supplying them with new stuff to sell.

CONS: Consignment means you don't get paid unless it sells, and it can be tough getting an appointment to have your stuff assessed. Most stores have pretty strict policies about what they'll take (designer only, current season only, etc.), how much they'll take, when they'll take it, how they'll take it, etc., and violating any of these rules can land you back home, bags full, wallet empty. Also, all consignment stores take a chunk of the sale; sellers generally yield only around 40%, so you're paying for the convenience of not having to figure out a fair price, photograph it, post it on eBay and ship it yourself (shipping is wasteful anyway). Finally, most stores send checks every few months, so you don't see any money for the goods for a while, even if it sells right away.

Resellers:


Buffalo Exchange*
238 Elm St.
Davis Square, Somerville

*Buffalo Exchange sellers get 50% store credit or %30 in cash for their stuff.

PROS: You bring them your shiz, they take what they want and give you a wad of cash/store credit in exchange. No worrying about whether it'll sell, no waiting months for a check, no appointment necessary.

CONS: These places usually sell at a lower rate than consignment stores, meaning you're likely to get less for your threads, so it's not the ideal spot to bring your fancy whatnot. (In the interest of journalistic research, we just let go of a $225 dress with the tags STILL ON for $27.50. Vomit.) But, if you're looking to unload your everyday H&M/Gap/Urban Outfitters garb, it's pretty much ideal.

The S.W.A.P. Team Presents: Take Off Your Clothes SoWa Clothing Swap:


When: Saturday June 5: 5pm-10pm
            Sunday June 6: 11am-4pm

Where: 500 Harrison Ave, South End Boston

PROS: Trade what you don't want for something you actually need (or just want). It's free ($8 donation suggested at the door), it'll be really fun, and whatever doesn't get taken gets donated to AIDS Action, so you're doing some good for the world while you shed your ill-fitting stuff. Also, they'll come pick your stuff up for you (email them at clothingpickups-BOS@theswapteam.org to schedule a time) so you don't have to haul it to SoWa, which means you can ride your BIKE to get there, which is EVEN GREENER.

CONS: If you're a weird size (like me) you're likely going to have limited swap options. But, there should be plenty of accessories and whatnot to choose from, so depending on what you're looking for, it could still be a great success.

Donations:

Boomerangs*
716 Centre St.
Jamaica Plain

and

1870 Centre St.
West Roxbury

*Proceeds from Boomerangs go to benefit AIDS Action. Check the website for drop-off hours.

Salvation Army
328 Mass Ave.
Central Square, Cambridge

and

483 Broadway
Somerville

Goodwill
520 Mass Ave
Central Square, Cambridge

and

965 Commonwealth Ave.
BU, Brighton

and

230 Elm St.
Davis Square, Somerville


PROS: Get rid of stuff consignment boutiques and resellers are unlikely to take, and contribute to the community while you do it.

CONS: ...? None. Unload a bunch of shiz no one else wants and help those in need.

And what about the stuff that's totally beyond saving? The stuff your kid colored on, your dog chewed in half, your lover ripped in a fit of passion (way to go, Casablanca...). Two suggestions:

1. Cut them up and turn them into cleaning rags. Dust, wipe, scrub, etc. Wash. Repeat. Greener than paper towels, cheaper than paper towels, sturdier than paper towels.

2. Drop them off at one of Planet Aid's big yellow boxes around Cambridge (the most convenient one is at 500 Memorial Drive, near MIT). They'll either ship the clothes to developing regions that need them or recycle the textiles into new ones. Either way, your stuff is staying out of landfills, and that's what this is all about.

Whew. OK, folks. We have given you an absurd number of options for ridding yourself of your rags, zero waste. You have NO EXCUSE now. None. We expect neat, organized closets by the end of the month. Send us photos! We'll post them here.

Then will you please help us do all this laundry?

spring cleaning, zero waste. sneeze count: 7

Heyo! So, here we are, getting ready to launch our new website, putting all the final pieces together so we can bring even more people in the Boston area local food, and we're STILL up to our elbows in all of this junk. Still. We can start a new business, we can build relationships with farms from all over New England, we can get people excited about a new opportunity to live locally, but we can't keep our teeny tiny apartment reasonably clean and organized. Our mothers are so disappointed in us.

But wait! We are making progress. We've found a slew of terrific and sustainable ways to get rid of our clothing (check back for that post tomorrow), our pals over at YCB are working on that whole CD repurposing extravaganza, aaaand... We have a solution for all those wire clothes hangers that were taking up more space in our closets than actual clothes. Hooray! High fives all around.

As it turns out, wire hangers are a bigger boon to our environment than we ever thought possible. According to NBC News, 3.5 billion wire hangers are sent to the landfill EVERY YEAR. Say what? 3.5 billion? Ah, yup. Absurd. Luckily, recycling these things is pretty easy and doesn't require any more effort than you'd already be making. Wanna know what we mean? Read on, fellow Greenologist!

Our first plan of action was to call our dry cleaners and ask their advice. They are, after all, in the business of hanging clothes on wire clothes hangers. Well. Partly, anyway. We use Clevergreen Cleaners, not only because the solvents they use to clean are biodegradable, but because they use less water in the cleaning process AND they design their work spaces to be as energy efficient as possible. Awesome. Anyway, we called these folks up. We said, "Hey, Clevergreen Cleaners, what should we do with all of these wire hangers?" And they said, "Hey, Greenologist lady, why don't you just bring them back to us?" And we said, "Oh. That's really easy. 'Cause we'll be over there to drop stuff off again soon anyway." And they said, "Yup." BAM. Problem solved.

So here's the deal. Just bring the hangers back to your cleaners. Recycling them the conventional way (in that blue bucket on your sidewalk) might work. But it might not. Not all cities will recycle those hangers, and by bringing them back to the cleaners, you're keeping more NEW hangers from having to be made, which keeps manufacturing and shipping waste down, too. Which is kind of the point.

This whole thing took five minutes for us to resolve. If everyone took two minutes to just throw their hangers into their dry cleaning bags with their clothes on the way out the door, we could keep 3.5 billion pieces of metal out of landfills. Seven minutes for a cleaner, greener planet? Yes, please.

Also, if you aren't already using Clevergreen, you probably should. Our clothes smell WAY better than they did after hanging out at those other places, AND they're holding their color and shape longer. They're not giving us anything to say that, by the way. It's just the truth.

spring cleaning, zero waste: yankee crafty bitch edition!

So, in case you were wondering, this zero waste cleaning stuff is NOT EASY. As we sit here, blogging, sipping some deliciously local Rao's coffee we picked up last night at Sherman Market, we remain cluttered into a corner by stacks of magazines and broken appliances. It's looking like we might be here for a while.

Luckily, our crafty friends over at Yankee Crafty Bitch (twitter 'em at @yankeecrafty) have reached out to us in our time of need and picked up one of the challenges we were least excited about: finding a use for all of these paperboard jewelry boxes. They're EVERYWHERE. They're ALL EMPTY. And yet, they're boxes. And as such, they possess inherent usefulness. And as such, we can not simply throw them away. (We know, we know. We have a serious problem.) Dun da daaaa! YCB to the rescue! Check out the totally awesome solution they crafted up:

It's a desk/jewelry/craft organizer! It's all one unit, instead of a bazillion random free-ranging boxes! They used the lids, too! We can store our safety pins, sewing needles, spare buttons, earrings, thumbtacks, blah, blah, blah, without buying a desk or jewelry organizer and sending those boxes to the landfill. We love it! We know you love it, too. Want to make one? It's super easy. Check out their blog for the step-by-step here. 

Worried about us over here, under all this junk? Don't be; YCB has promised to make another appearance in our quest for Spring Cleaning, Zero Waste, so we've got a lifeline to organization. Check back here for another awesome YCB creation soon (follow us on Twitter @gogreenologist so we can let you know when it happens)! Until then, don't forget about our Green Challenge; while we slave away, you could be winning stuff. Pretty nice deal you've worked out for yourself, there, fellow Greenologist.