Plus, when you swap stuff free, in addition to getting rid of clutter and reducing trash, you free up your budget to afford other items that you need to buy. Some greener products can be a bit more expensive than their conventional counterparts, but when you swap stuff for free, you create more room in your budget for the green essentials you want.

Of course, another way to increase your budget for green goods is to use cash back credit cards when you do make a purchase, and to use that free cash back money to supplement your overall green living budget. That’s why we’ve teamed up with CreditLoan.com on this post. Swapping for what you want, and using cash back to help you afford what you need, is a pretty good way to help pay for your greener lifestyle.

5 Ways to Swap Stuff Free

Books – Put up a Little Free Library

Little Free Libraries are just about the easiest way to swap books I know of. Here’s how they work: You build or put up a water-proof box where it can be accessed any time of the day or night (many people put them on their front lawns). The box isn’t too big – maybe 24 inches wide and 30 inches high. It closes with a latch, but doesn’t lock, so anyone can put a book in or take one out. It might have 2 shelves in it so it can accommodate 20 or so books. Anyone walking buy is welcome to take a book out for free. You can also put one of your own books in for free – in fact, that’s the idea. Take a book out, put a book in. If you don’t want to build an actual box, you can get creative by using a water-proof trunk, an old refrigerator, a small furniture chest, or anything else that helps to hold the books.

Of course, you can always donate books to a school or a library. But for a true swap? Consider putting up a Little Free Library on your block, and encourage neighbors to do the same. You can also put up free libraries in apartment buildings and condo and townhome complexes.

Clothes – Set up a clothing exchange with friends and neighbors

Moms are masters when it comes to swapping their kids clothes. It’s easy to swap clothes an older kid has outgrown with a mom who has a toddler. Teenage girls are great at swapping, too. It extends their budgets  and keeps them up on the latest fashions without having to lay out too much cash. But what if you need to clear out your own closet and would like to change up your wardrobe a bit? Try organizing a clothing swap with friends and family, or colleagues at work. Here are the basic “rules” to help make it a success. Essentially, host a fun coffee or happy hour. Invite a group as large or small as you want. Ask everyone to bring clothing that is clean and in good condition. Have a place where all the clothes can be set out by size and/or style. Then let the swapping begin. Donate any leftover clothes to a local charity. GetRichSlowly.org lays out more precise guidelines for a successful swap here.

Garden Plants – Swap seeds, seedlings, and the plants themselves

Swapping garden plants is a no brainer for a lot of reasons. Plants can be expensive, and there’s no guarantee they’ll thrive in your garden. When you swap, you get plants for free, keep plants out of the trash if you don’t compost, and can get access to plants from gardens that get the same amount of rainfall, sunlight, or pests as yours. Swap plants informally via a neighborhood list serv, or join your local garden club and start an annual spring plant swap. By the way you can also swap the vegetables and herbs you grow for ones you don’t.

Don’t Miss: Don’t Buy Plants. Swap! (I did, and saved $50.)

Kids’ Stuff – Swap Toys, Games and Sporting Equipment

Kids usually outgrow their toys and games long before those things break. This is the kind of stuff that has a tendency to pile up and create a lot of clutter, so why not keep putting it to use by setting up a swap? You can organize it the same way you organize a clothes swap, but with an added bonus: get your kids involved, and teach them from an early age to swap and share rather than always think the first they should do is buy news.

Meals – You Make Two, She Makes Two

Swapping meals is great when you want to eat delicious home-cooked food but don’t have time to do all the cooking and shopping every week. One year, a neighbor and I who both worked outside the home and had two little kids to feed decided to swap meals during the week. She made enough for my family two nights a week, and I made enough for her family two weeks a night. It was a great way to have delicious suppers without having to worry about them every night. Plus, it introduced us to recipes that the other was unfamiliar with. If you do this, set it up for a trial for a month. Agree on ingredients and make sure you know if anyone has any food allergies. Then, figure out the best delivery time. (This is not a potluck, so people aren’t going to each others’ homes for dinner, though they could.)

What are your favorite ways to swap stuff free? Please share!

The post 5 Ways to Swap Stuff Free appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Here’s what happened next. I’m sharing the step-by-step with you in case you want to organize a Cookies for Clothing Drive in your own community. It is actually very easy to do. In fact, it only took me 10 days (and maybe 20 hours total) from the time I had the idea to the day we collected over 30 warm coats (and lots more, as you’ll see below).

How to Organize Your Cookies for Clothing Drive

* Identify a Charity to Accept Your Clothes – First and foremost, know who is going to take the clothes and what they can actually use. I already volunteer for Miriam’s Kitchen in Washington, D.C., so I got in touch with Steve Badt. Steve not only runs kitchen services for MK – he lives two doors away from me, and is a good neighbor. When I broached the idea of organizing the drive, he responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!” “It’s going to be a very harsh winter, and the people we serve are chronically homeless,” he said. “They really need warm clothes to survive.”

* Set a Date and Time – I figured I would need a week to fire people up. But also, I didn’t want this to go on forever.  I was  specific about when the drive was happening so people would feel like there was a deadline to observe. I gave myself a week to pull it off, figuring that way it wouldn’t take up a huge amount of my time for weeks and weeks nor drag on into the holidays. I opted to collect the coats the next Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when people are already running around doing chores.

* Be Flexible & Make It Convenient – To make it as easy as possible for people to donate, I invited folks to drop off their clothing anytime during the week before the drive if they wanted to. I also offered to go to people’s houses to pick up their donations. I happened to meet with my book group during the week of the drive, and some people brought their clothes to book group for me. All good.

* Make It Fun – Who can resist home-baked cookies and hot cider? That was the “reward” we offered to anyone who made a donation. I invited everyone in for treats, but some people didn’t stay. “We will take some cookies, though!” they said as they made their drop-off.

* Use Social Media to Build Participation – Once I got the ok from Steve and Miriam’s Kitchen, I immediately sent an email to a list of neighbors and friends inviting them to participate. I also reached out to my book group, and got the invitation posted on our neighborhood list-serv. I asked some of my Facebook friends to repost the invitation on their Facebook pages, and friends who lived in other neighborhoods also posted it to their list-servs and offered to help collect donations. Throughout the week leading up to the drive, I posted updates on Facebook. Two days before the big day, I sent another reminder to my email list. The morning of the drive, I posted a reminder to the neighborhood list-serv.

DAY OF THE EVENT

* Make the Cookies, Heat the Cider -I offered home-made cookies, right? With the help of my daughter, on the eve of the drive, we made enough batter to make 12 dozen cookies: half chocolate chip, half oatmeal raisin (no nuts in either batter). On Saturday, the day of the event, I got up at 6 a.m. to make all the cookies fresh. I piled them on two big platters as they came out of the oven. By 8 a.m., 12 dozens cookies were ready and waiting to be gobbled up by anyone who dropped anything off. Expecting people might start arriving around 10 a.m., at 9:30, I poured a gallon of apple cider into a big pot, added some cinnamon sticks and cloves, and turned the heat on low. I didn’t want the cider to boil, just get hot enough to be warming for whoever showed up. I put out a lot of mugs next to the stove so it would be quick and easy to serve people who stopped by. I didn’t worry about plates or napkins for the cookies.

* Offer A Donation Form – Because the clothing was going to a non-profit organization, the donations are tax deductible. I got donation forms from Miriam’s Kitchen to hand out to anyone who wanted them. At times, there was so much going on that I forgot to give people their form, so this week I’m dropping them off in their mailboxes so they can fill them out when they file their 2014 taxes.

* Set up a Staging Area – It was cold but not windy or wet outside, so I set up a staging area on my back porch to collect the clothes. I had separate boxes and piles: one box for hats, gloves and scarves; separate bags for jeans, sweaters, and jackets and coats. It kept things organized, and also made people feel good when they brought their contributions by and could add them to the growing piles.

* Answer the Door, Enjoy the Camaraderie – Once the cookies were made and the stage set, all I had to do was receive people as they came by. It felt a little like an open house: people dropped by at their convenience, we enjoyed some conversation, had a snack, and the next group of people stopped in. It was really fun!

* Tally Up What You Collect – I wanted to know how much of what was donated so I could tell both Miriam’s Kitchen what quantity and quality to expect and share the information with all the donors. It would have saved me a little time if I’d tallied as the donations came in, but that’s ok. It took me no longer than 30 minutes to tally everything up when the drive was over.

* Sort and Label the Clothes – The people at Miriam’s Kitchen can get inundated with random clothing donations. I figured it would make their lives easier if I sorted and labeled the clothes before they got picked up, and that’s what I did (everything except the heavy jackets was sorted, as seen below). As I filled a box or bag, I simply wrote what was inside on the outside. Easy peasy.

* Arrange a Pick Up – I could have driven down to Miriam’s Kitchen myself, but Steve offered to come by and pick up the clothes for me. That actually made my life a lot easier, and he didn’t seem to mind at all.

* That’s It! – That’s all there was to it.

SCHEDULE RECAP

Day One – Idea: Cookies for Clothing Drive!

Day Two – Seven -Build participation through social media

Day 8 – Get donation forms; Get cookie supplies and cider

Day 9 – Make cookie batter; keep up the social media promotion

Day 10 – Make cookies; heat up cider; collect clothing; have fun; sort and label clothing

I left all the sorted clothing under a waterproof tarp on my back porch. Steve picked it up at the end of the day.

Of course, you don’t have to offer cookies for clothing. I just thought it would be fun, and it was. The important thing is to collect the clothes. However you want to do it is up to you.

What Did We Actually Collect?

I expect that if Miriam’s Kitchen had had to purchase the clothes we collected, it could have cost them a few thousand dollars, a sum they, as a non-profit, couldn’t really afford. As it was, we were able to provide:

* 30 Warm Jackets

* 30 or so Sweaters and Sweatshirts

* Many hats, scarves and pairs of gloves

* 3 full men’s suits

* Several pairs of blue jeans

* A comforter and several sheets and pillowcases

Thanks to everyone who helped make this such a big success. If you want to plan your own clothing drive, let me know. I’m happy to offer whatever advice and social media support I can.

The post How I Collected 30 Warm Coats at My Cookies for Clothing Drive appeared first on Big Green Purse.