Bartering for a Better World

The day of the barter method is not completely dead, even in a land where capitalism reigns supreme. As has been discussed here, there and everywhere, reusing can be much better for the planet than buying the next big green thing. A fellow Iowan unschooler has a bartering blog where her goal is moving up to an RV her family can use to travel around the country. (That would be so cool!)

To that end, I received a very nice email from a man named Mark Hexamer, sharing info with me about Swaptree.com. It’s a site where you can trade books, CDs and other items that you own for “new” used copies traded by other people. Bartering at its most basic, and they have a special program going for Earth Day. Writes Mark:

This Tuesday, Swaptree.com, the website where you can trade the books, DVDs, CDs, and video games you have, for the ones you want, for free, will be donating $1 dollar for every trade made on Earth Day to The Sierra Club.

So if getting a free book, DVD, video game or CD was not enough, now by signing up and doing a trade, you will also be donating to America’s oldest and largest environmental organization on Swaptree’s dime!

As an added benefit, you aren’t just getting rid of items you don’t want, you’re getting new things you do want For Free. If you’re interested, but aren’t sure whether you want to check it out or not, Mark included this video where you get a better understanding of the website.

Have fun shopping! :)