If The Shoe Fits…

With the start of Spring comes a changing of the guard… in terms of wardrobe, anyway! I knew I wanted (ok I admit I wrote “needed” and then deleted it) a pair of feminine flats that I could wear with everything from jeans and a tank top to a cute cotton dress. And of course the shoes have to be vegan and eco-friendly.

So I went to Payless. WHAT?! Yep, Payless has a great brand of stylish eco-friendly shoes and accessories and all for under $30. Look for Zoe&Zac- you’ll find them in their shoe boxes made from recycled materials and soy-based ink. BINGO! Perfect for Thrifty Thursdays!!

‘Tis the Season… to Exchange

With the holidays rapidly approaching (Christmas music already?!) who couldn’t use some extra cash? Or fabulous free loot? This weekend I took part in a book exchange and a clothing exchange… and now I’m hooked!

Book Culture takes books back at a rate of  25% in cash or 40% in store credit.

The Upper West store has a classic literati feel and a combination of both new and used books. The downside is that they won’t accept all your books (they look up each title to determine whether they’ll sell it or not) and the money back may not seem worth the trek if they only take a few. Out of the 15 books I tried to sell back, Book Culture accepted six and I used the store credit I received to pay a book of Strindburgh plays. The remainder of the books I shlepped back to my local Housing Works thrift store for donation.

Beacon’s closet proved a bit more financially successful. A clothing consignment store, Beacon’s closet offers 35%cash or 55% store credit for any items they take of yours. The downside here is they try to buy seasonally (so cleaning out your summer wardrobe to turn in now may prove unfruitful) and if urban funk isn’t you m.o. you may walk away empty handed. I was lucky and used the $48 in store credit for some fabulous accessories (including new tights made out of bamboo!). Any clothes they don’t buy from the customer they’ll donate to Dominick’s Mobile Ministry – a not-for-profit mobile service established in 1995, which distributes customer clothing to the needy, homeless, and to churches throughout new york and pennsylvania.

Whatever your wish-list this holiday season, there is nothing naughty and everything nice about searching out  stores offering exchanges for those items collecting dust in your home. Not only are you being nice to your wallet, but you’re helping the environment by recycling items for use instead of tossing them, and helping out your community by buying local.

Now that’s something to sing about.

Puppy Mills In The Dog House

Check out my latest article on ecorazzi about the latest way to help stop puppy mills. I will warn you that I wrote “pure bread dogs” instead of “pure bred dogs”… oops! That’s what I get for relying on spellcheck late at night!