SwapSity Swap Meet & Garage Sale

It’s great when members of the community are starting their own swap meets and ask me to help them share their event news with you. SwapSity is a new community founded by Marta Nowinska, that’s focusing on helping Torontonians live a little greener through swapping.

What?
SwapSity Swap Meet & Garage Sale
This green event will bring together savvy swappers, eco-enthusiasts, parent barterers and thrifty shoppers, all under one roof. Keep useful things out of landfills, find new treasures, free yourself from the clutter and have tons of fun trading! With both swapping and selling taking place, it will be the ultimate garage sale and a swap meet rolled into one.

Where?
Walmer Road Baptist Church
Ground floor, enter from south side
188 Lowther Ave. (Spadina & Bloor) (map)
Toronto

When?
Saturday, Aug. 29
1:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

How Much?
General Admission: $3.50, now $2
Table Rental: $5, $9, $16 (book in advance)


(Note: I don’t know Marta and this event seems less grassroots that then swap meets you’re used to seeing posted on Bargainista.)

Swap-tacular Swap-iversary Clothing Swap Party

Glad to see Hope and the gang are celebrating their one year anniversary and as always, this one is bigger and better then the last. It’s just so grassroots and sounds like a lot of fun. Swap parties are also an inexpensive and green way to refresh your wardrobe, clean out your closet and give to those in need.

What?
Swap-tacular Swap-iversary Clothing Swap Party: A fun and frugal way to revamp your wardrobe

Refresh your fall wardrobe and help us celebrate a year of Swap - Don’t Shop events! Just show up with your unwanted (but clean & good quality) clothes, and leave with a revamped wardrobe!

There will be delicious snacks, on-site alterations, door prizes and more!
Workshops include:
• Shibori,a traditional Japanese tie-dying technique
• Alterations 101
• Top 10 Styling Tips for Men and Women
• Sewing workship

All clothing, shoes and other accessories (but no socks and undies please) which are clean and in good condition are welcome.

At the end of the day all unclaimed clothing will be donated to local charities.

Where?
St. Stephen-in-the-Fields Church
103 Bellevue Ave. (at College) (map)

When?
Saturday, Aug. 15
noon-4 p.m.

How Much?
Admission (with at least 5 swap items)
Women $8
Men free

RSVP
clothing_swap@hotmail.com

Join the facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61408230503

Toronto’s plastic bag tax starts tomorrow

Starting tomorrow stores in Toronto will have to start charging customers a $0.05/plastic bag tax, in accordance with a new city by-law.

Over the past year or so, I’ve been bringing shopping bags with me most of the time I go grocery shopping. I’ve also been making a special effort to take shopping bags to the mall or outdoor shopping districts. Sometimes it’s tough to anticipate just how many bags I’ll need in advance and what size is most appropriate.

Fortunately, I’ve been building up quite a collection. Seems like almost every retailer has a branded reusable bag for sale these days. Not to mention some help thanks to my sister and Mr. B. They’ve been buying me classic shopping bags during their travels.

I’m still drooling over an amazing reversible printed cloth bag I saw at Holts today but the $400+ price tag was way out of my range. And no, it wasn’t one among the sale items, which now are 40% off though June 18.

What’s your favourite shopping bag and what do you think of the new tax?

Dandelion Mud Pie joins forces with Organic Abundance

I’ve been a fan of Dandelion Mud Pie since the beginning. It’s not 

because I shopped their much but I loved the concept and befriended the store’s owner... a very passionate woman named 

Helen Nestor. So, you can imagine my disappointment when I saw the for rent sign in the window. I thought Dandelion Mud Pie had joined the list of local retailers that became a casualty of the recession.

Sometimes it’s nice being wrong. Last week I got an email from Helen and Rebecca Morton, her new business partner and owner of Organic Abundance, an organic food market, announcing they were joining forces and sharing a space. Dandelion Mud Pie was moving to a more prominent position across Yonge St. and would no longer be hidden behind a pizza take-out counter. 

The grand re-opening is tomorrow. There will be all kinds of samples, goodies and giveaways. So, if you’re planning a visit to North Toronto consider stopping by and saying hello.

What?

Grand Re-opening of Dandelion Mud Pie and Organic Abundance

• free re-usable grocery bags to the first 20 customers

• draws for food/gift baskets

• free food samples

Where? 

3279 Yonge Street (map)

5 blocks north of Lawrence, east side of Yonge

When?

Fri., May 29:  10 a.m. - 8 p.m.

I’m hoping to visit. If you do, please let us know what you think. 

SWAP - Don’t Shop clothing swap party #3

Glad to see Hope and the gang are at it again only bigger and better. It’s just so grassroots and sounds like a lot of fun. Swap parties are also an inexpensive and green way to refresh your wardrobe, clean out your closet and give to those in need.

What?
Swap - Don’t Shop clothing swap party: A fun and frugal way to revamp your wardrobe

Gather up your unfortunate holiday gifts, regrettable impulse sale purchases and other unwanted clothing, and come out to our first co-ed clothing swap, where you’ll leave with bags of wonderful new wardrobe favourites!

All men’s and women’s clothing, shoes, and other accessories (with the exception of socks & undies) that are clean and in fairly good condition are welcome.

As well as fabulous clothing and yummy snacks, sewers will be on hand to do basic alterations and demos on reinventing your wardrobe.

At the end of the day, all unclaimed clothing will be donated to a local charity.

Where?
Beaver Hall Gallery
29 McCaul St. (north of Queen St.) (map)

When?
Saturday, Feb. 21
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

11 a.m.: Drop off your clothes, socialize, and enjoy the yummy snacks and drinks.
Noon: The swapping frenzy begins!

At the end of the day, all unclaimed clothing will be donated to charity.

How Much?
$8

RSVP
clothing_swap@hotmail.com

Join the facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61408230503

SWAP - Don’t Shop clothing swap party #2

Glad to see Hope and the gang are at it again only bigger and better. It’s just so grassroots and sounds like a lot of fun. Swap parties are also an inexpensive and green way to refresh your wardrobe, clean out your closet and give to those in need.

What?
Swap - Don’t Shop clothing swap party: A fun and frugal way to revamp your wardrobe

Come out to our secon clothing swap party with all of the unwanted clothing taking up space in your closet and drawers, and leave with bags of wonderful new wardrobe favourites!

All womens’ clothing, shoes, jewelery and other accessories (except undies) in clean and in good condition are welcome.

As well as fabulous clothing and yummy snacks, seamstresses will be on hand to do basic alterations and demos on reinventing your wardrobe.

Where?
103 Bellevue Ave.
St. Stephen-in-the-Fields church (at College, between Bathurst and Spadina) (map)

When?
Saturday, Oct. 25
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

11 a.m.: Drop off your clothes, socialize, and enjoy the yummy snacks and drinks.
Noon: The swapping frenzy begins!

At the end of the day, all unclaimed clothing will be donated to charity.

How Much?
$8 to cover the cost of food, drinks and location rental fee.

RSVP
clothing_swap@hotmail.com

Join the facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61408230503

Bargainista gets a little greener

I drink a lot of water and I’m usually seen carrying a bottle of water around with me wherever I go.

Two things about this habit have really been bothering me:
• Bisphenol A; and,
• Waste from all the empty plastic bottles

Some of my friends were giving me flack.

As part of our green office initiative at work, all employees were given Bisphenol A-free water bottles. It still didn’t solve my problem after hours, especially during my commute to work and on weekends.

My search for stainless steel bottle was on. For most of the summer, they’ve been impossible to find. I found some SIGG bottles when I visited Halifax in July. This may sound lame but I found most of them awkward to carry. I waited until my kids came home from sleepover camp so I could try the $5 bottles I bought them from Wal-mart. Yuck! The water had an awful metallic taste. Pass.

I was walking on Yonge St. with Mr. B when he spotted a collection of water bottles in the window at Higher Ground. Inside they carried a few different brands so I had more to choose from than SIGG. The coolest thing is they came in a wide variety of colour, shapes and sizes. I ended up buying a fuschia one (surprised?) by Laken. What sold me was the carbineer attached to the bottle top. I’ve been using it for a few days now and I’m sold. BTW, it was $22 – $1 less than the same sized SIGG.

The next day I was at ToyTown and one of the employees asked me where I bought my Laken bottle because his friends swear by them. We started talking about stainless steel water bottles and as it turns out ToyTown claims it was the first store to carry the SIGG line in Canada. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised they carry a wide selection of SIGG accessories including snack containers for toddlers.

What have you been doing to make the world greener?

Swap - Don’t Shop clothing swap party

When I received a request to share this event with you, I couldn’t resist. It’s just so grassroots and sounds like a lot of fun. Swap parties are also an inexpensive and green way to refresh your wardrobe, clean out your closet and give to those in need.

What?
Swap - Don’t Shop clothing swap party: A fun and frugal way to revamp your wardrobe

Come out to our first bi-monthly clothing swap party with all of the unwanted clothing taking up space in your closet and drawers, and leave with bags of wonderful new wardrobe favourites!

All womens’ clothing, shoes, jewelery and other accessories (except undies) in clean and in good condition are welcome.

Where?
103 Bellevue Ave.
St. Stephen-in-the-Fields church (at College, between Bathurst and Spadina) (map)

When?
Saturday, Aug. 16
11 a.m.-2 p.m.

11 a.m.: Drop off your clothes, socialize, and enjoy the yummy snacks and drinks.
Noon: The swapping frenzy begins!

At the end of the day, all unclaimed clothing will be donated to a local charity: Dress Your Best.

How Much?
$5 to cover the cost of food, drinks and location rental fee.

RSVP
clothing_swap@hotmail.com

Join the facebook group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=61408230503

What the community did for Earth Day

In honour of Earth Day I thought I’d ask members of the twitter community what they were doing today to make a difference and help save the planet.

I got some wonderful answers:

allthingsjen @Bargainista Sending Someecards for Earth Day! Save a tree send an ecard! http://tinyurl.com/6pdqus

DoctorJones @bargainista rode my bike to a client meeting in a suit. We’ll be getting stainless water bottles at work.

Rebecca_M @Bargainista Taking a break from electronics to clean up my back/front yard. BBQ for dinner & get recycling together for collection tomorrow

rjleaman @Bargainista my Earth Day will have lunch hour outdoors, no iPod or book or convo: just looking, listening, strolling, getting reconnected

wmacphail @Bargainista Taking my first long cycle ride into Burlington to have lunch with an old friend.

tamera @EdenSpodek I had all my electronics unplugged except my PC all day, took an extra bag w/ me on my walk in the ravine & picked up trash

danielerossi @EdenSpodek Easy: don’t shop today. Hm, Earth Day should be a day where people don't buy from the corporations and big box stores

acriley @EdenSpodek I’ve got some seeds (beans, etc.) that I am planting with the kidlette today in growers pots. This year I’m planning a garden!

As for me, I took the subway to work, got free coffee from Starbucks by bringing my own cup and refused a bag at Shoppers even though I didn’t bring my own. I got funny looks when I walked back into the office building with a handful of stuff. Actually, I didn’t do anything special - it’s pretty much what I do everyday.

What did you do to celebrate Earth Day?

Give a green gift this Valentine's Day

Dandelion Mud Pie, a new environmentally friendly neighbourhood store, has designed a collection of six Valentine gift baskets inspired by the “spirit, creativity and works” of four authors and four Canadian eco-heros. Each “green” basket is filled with Canadian-crafted products that are natural, organic, easily biodegradable and comes with it’s own handmade gift card.

Here’s the description of the “Love Struck Eco Goddess” basket (photo) inspired by Elizabeth Barret Browning and Adria Vasil:
Products include a Mountain Sky pure beeswax heart candle, Two Herbal Mamas lip balm, Soap Stone dead sea salts, a silk herbal eye pillow, a bar of Zazubean Nakid organic chocolate and more.

This basket comes with a handcrafted gift card with the following message on the one side and blank on the other for your own words:

“I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/My soul can reach - I love thee with the breath/ Smiles, tears, of all my life!”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Valentine gift baskets are range in price from $55-$65 and are available in-store or online until February 14.

Tip of the Week - Green shopping

Mish invited me for coffee the other day. She said she had something to show me and proceeded to pull a small green nylon pouch from her purse. It was about the size of a large cell phone or small digital camera but it was something else altogether different.

For a mere $5, she purchased a Reisenthel mini-maxi nylon shopping bag at Solutions that folds up into it’s own little carrying case. It weighs next to nothing and is small enough to fit into a small purse. Best of all, when Mish goes shopping she can open it up and fit lots of stuff inside. Boy, do I need one of these. ; )

I did a little research and learned award-winning design firm, Reisenthel has a whole line of shopping bags. I even found a post Kim Vallée had written about some of their other bags last spring. You can also find Reinsenthel bags at goneshopping.ca, but I didn’t see the one sported by Mish on their site.

Green bags come in many colours and aren’t just for groceries anymore!

Do you carry a “green” bag when you go shopping or do you keep one in your purse just in case? If you don’t, do you think this post has convinced you to reconsider?

Green Shopping Bags

In honour of Live Earth, we decided to use green bags at the grocery store today. We bought our bags a while ago at Costco. A 3-pack for $5 includes an insulated bag.

I’m not sure whether or not using green bags will make a difference. My neighbour and I were just discussing that very question since both our families recycle plastic shopping bags. I do have a stockpile of them at the moment, so at least for now, I'll go “green”.

Have you seen Galen Weston Jr. plugging green bags for Loblaws? What do you think of his new commercial?

What are you doing in support of Live Earth this weekend?

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