Assisting bushfire victims.

If you would like to donate items to aid bushfire victims, Triple R have the most needed items listed and where to donate to here. It looks like this list will be updated daily.  PLEASE NOTE:  New items or items in top top condition are essential: half used, opened, scrappy crappy stuff will be rejected, so please don’t send off-casts.  Items need to have some pride.

Big thanks to Linda at Bullleen library for taking collections today: I fetched supplies from the library (adding my own) that added up to a fat car load.

Then I went to triple R and sorted!

And then (quite unexpectedly) I travelled in the “milk truck” to Walleen to personally deliver and unload the boxes at the other end.  It was just me and the driver, Ross havachat.

Big thanks to all who donated, thought about donating but couldn’t due to the timeline, couriered stuff, bought stuff, cared, cried or sent well wishes.  Appreciated.  Much bigger reponse than I’d anticipated.

For clarity (specifically currency) I’ve deleted old comments here so you know the info is fresh.

clothes swapping – the new black!

I reckon clothes swapping is the new black!  Check out The Clothing Exchange (also called my sister’s wardrobe).  This is where I found out about super sensible and environmentally-friendly clothes hanger called green hanger.

Or, you might like to check out For Better or Purse. Reinventing your “house fill” (as The Clothing Exchange organisers describe it) means stuff in your wardrobe that you’re not wearing OUT and replaced item for item with more wearable stuff IN. 

swapstyle.com is like freecycle (no money changes hands).  Swapstyle is a Sydney-based international site where members post photographs of the clothes they don’t want and others can contact them to offer them with things they have to swap. ‘Buyers’ have to pay postage.

pencil project

The Pencil Project run by VicSuper is a great way to recycle old pens and pencils!

Through the work of Rotary (who have a long-standing focus on literacy) The Pencil Project assists the education of children in Zimbabwe. In the excess of our first world comfort, it’s hard to imagine that schooling could be hampered by a lack of the most basic tool – something to write with.

If you have pencils, crayons or chalk to spare, they’d love to receive them. VicSuper gratefully accept both new and pre-loved pencils, crayons, chalk, sharpeners and erasers (they cannot accept pens, textas or books).

more here

No doubt this is a great project, but as stationery is one of the most hoarded items, I’m curious to know what’s in your office that you know you should get rid of but haven’t??

bookcrossing

I’ve been loving reading a great blog in the U.S. by Jeri – “JD Organiser”. (Her name reminds me of JD Salinger… of Catcher in the Rye fame!) This posting 10 ways to find new homes for books reminded me of the very cute bookcrossing project. I first heard about bookcrossing about five years ago. The idea is that unwanted books are ‘released into the wild’ and their location posted on the website. So, if you want to ‘catch’ a book, you simply check the website for a location near you and go book hunting! Everyone wins: books are recycled in the quirkiest and most adventurous fashion. I’ve never caught a book this way, but I’m off to Tassie today, so I will be checking for Wild Taswegian Beasts, er, I mean Books…..