Sale Ends Never

All items 100% off, sale ends never--one can imagine the radio and t.v. commercials that might be used to promote the Brooklyn Free Store, an interesting concept and location where items can be taken for free or dropped off for someone else to use. Read Colin Moynihan's article in the 8/15/10 edition of the New York Times for the full story.

I love this idea. It reminds me a bit of what we do in smaller cities and towns when we put something out on the curb with a sign that says "FREE" and hope someone who needs the item snags it before the trash haulers come. It also is reminiscent of online swapping services like Freecycle, but there is something about having a physical place to go and browse that I think is valuable. Sometimes you don't know what you need or want until you see it, or maybe your desire isn't major enough for you to search for it online, but if it was in front of you and free, you could take it and consider yourself lucky. Plus, it may be that seeing this sort of give and take community spirit in person is what is necessary to inspire folks to set their unwanted items free, as indicated by the person in the NYT article who left a reusable tote bag at the Free Store in order to feel he was involved.

At any rate, I wish every town had a store like this one.

Fine Art Fridges Make Reuse Art Cool

ComEd is sponsoring a display of reuse art involving old refrigerators along the Magnificent Mile in Chicago through September 15, 2010, as a way of promoting their refrigerator recycling program.

Check out the coverage of this display and the ComEd program in Waste & Recycling News and on WGN.

The "VooDoo Hot Rod" shown in the WGN video clip is my personal favorite.