We have been checking Craigslist and Ebay for a bike for Noah but haven't had any luck. So today we peaked into a local bike shop to check prices.....I was surprised that most were over $200. which is not in our budget right now.

Then I remembered about Santa Rosa's Community Bikes store.

We found a great 20" Trek bike in perfect condition that they will tune up and add training wheels to, for $60. In addition to the great deal, we are also keeping a bike out of the landfill and not adding to the waste of more new raw materials that would be used to make a new bike.

I would recommend anyone in the market for an adult bike, kid's bike (they even had princess and Ariel bikes for little girls), unicycles, tandem bikes (yes.... they had it all) to check out Community Bikes in Santa Rosa.

Noah is very happy with his "new to him" bike and we are even more happy for the green choice Community Bikes gave us the opportunity to make.

ALSO, if you have a bike that you would like to donate, they will take it, fix it up and sell to someone else. The money made from the sale will go to their great cause of keeping bikes out of the landfill and encouraging biking more and driving less. 

NEED A NEW-TO-YOU BIKE?

Community Bikes is a non-profit collaborative that promotes driving less, biking, repair and reuse. We support these programs by refurbishing and selling good quality bikes and parts donated by individuals and local agencies. Our inventory varies week to week - road bikes, mountain bikes and everything in between. Please come by or visit us on Craigslist! Volunteers and donations welcome. COMMUNITY BIKES 4009 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa One block south of Highway 12 and one block east of Wright/Fulton Rd & Joe Rodota Trail; Halfway between Sebastopol and downtown Santa Rosa Sunday, 1-5pm and Thursday, 5-9pm A project of LITE Initiatives www.liteinit.org, 707 579-5811 

SonoMax is a free service to  help keep good materials out of the trash.

Green Classified Ads.

IF IT CAN BE REUSED, POST IT ONLINE!!!

Last week, we ordered take out. We REALLY love this Thai restaurant near us but they use Styrofoam containers for their take out so we usually avoid going unless we are eating there.I  think over a year ago on this blog someone mentioned that they tried bringing their own containers in to restaurants so I got our tupperware out and brought it to the restaurant. I thought for sure they were either going to laugh at me or cite some silly health code reason why they couldn't use my containers to package my take out. However I was surprised and pleased that they didn't even bat an eye. They took my order and containers with a smile and in 15 minutes I had my take out, waste free. 

Have you all had similar luck with this?  

Cameron and I have been looking for a new set of pots and pans since we have been borrowing my sisters during the last year and now need to return them. I bought a set for $185 at Costco today and then happened to check Craigslist just out of curiosity. It just so happened someone was selling the EXACT same set, hardly used, for $60 on Craigslist. I am so excited!! Not only do I get to save lots of money (over 60% off what I was going to pay) but I also can make the eco choice of not buying new, using new resources, etc.

Just reminder - that you all know anyway - to always check out the used option. It's not only great for the wallet but great for the environment too.

This weekend we had about 35 people over for brunch.  I wanted to make it as low waste as I could.  By using re-usable plastic plates instead of plastic, real forks, and real cups all those items we able to got into 2 dishwasher loads and are now ready for the next party.  It did take some planning, and borrowing some items to make sure I had enough, but I'm sure the more I do parties this way I'll get my party supplies set up and I won't even think about it.