Trash turned into teaching tools
Just lately two different people asked me why there isn't someplace in the Seattle area where teachers, artists and others can find industrial scrap materials for their projects. My answer: There actually is a store like that, The Creation Station in Lynnwood. The Creation Station has been around for 15 years and it's been a long time since I've been there, but it seems they are still going strong. As their website describes it, they supply "surplus and recycled materials to teachers, students, artists, inventors, scientists, engineers and all those who love to create and dream." These materials, most of which were previously landfill-bound, range from fabric scraps to film cans to plastic tubing. The Creation Station also hosts events, especially children's birthday parties where the kids get to use anything in the store to make stuff. We went to one of those probably 12 years ago with our daughter, and we all had fun.

Refill - the fourth R
Some of us are old enough to remember bringing back glass beer bottles or pop bottles to the store. You got back a little deposit on the bottles, and then they were returned to the bottling plant or brewery to be washed, sterilized and refilled. It wasn't that long ago - OK, maybe 25 years - when the old Rainier brewery in south Seattle was still doing that. I took a tour of their bottle-washing and refilling operation once. Today a few small breweries and other beverage companies are keeping refillables alive. For example, Schooner Exact Brewing Co. in West Seattle sells its beer at PCC grocery stores and elsewhere in refillable glass jugs called "growlers." Just like in the old days, you pay a deposit on them and bring them back to be refilled.

Wear it well
Buying used clothes is one of the most sensible ways to reuse. You save tons of money, and you can often find better and more distinctive clothes than if you just buy the new stuff everyone else is buying. It takes time to look through all the choices and separate the awesomeness from the chaff, but it's well worth it. I always recommend that in addition to frequently visiting the mainstream (and often great) thrift stores like Goodwill and Value Village, you should try to find your own special little thrift store that is not as well-known and has the kind of stuff you like. For my wife Linda and I, that's the Lifelong Thrift Store on Capitol Hill in Seattle, a non-profit shop operated by the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. It's walking distance from our house and both of us have found some really nice clothes there, including a sport coat I love.

Being a good sport
Another category of stuff that seems made for buying used is sports equipment. Face it, some of us buy athletic or exercise equipment with the best intentions but just never end up using it very much. That means there's a massive pool of used sports stuff in excellent condition. Play It Again Sports in Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood buys and sells used athletic equipment (they also sell some new items). Although there are Play It Again Sports stores in many other U.S. and Canadian cities, they are all franchises, I believe, and this one has been around for 16 years and is owned by a local family.

Tool time
To wrap up our little list, let's celebrate the wisdom of borrowing tools that we rarely use, instead of buying and owning them. Two Seattle neighborhoods are lucky enough to have innovative tool-sharing programs: the Phinney Neighborhod Association Tool Lending Library, which was the first one in these parts, and the up-and-coming West Seattle Tool Library. These programs allow residents to borrow tools for a small suggested fee or donation. The variety of hand and power tools available is impressive: Belt sanders, jacks, saws, paint sprayers, hedge trimmers, wet vacs - the list goes on and on.

This just scratches the surface. More and more entrepreneurs and organizations have come to realize that there's a demand for products and services that are based on reuse and waste reduction. Let's keep supporting these efforts, and make sure that all the R's get equal time!

Tom Watson manages the EcoConsumer public outreach program for King County. For past EcoConsumer articles for the KPLU Around the House website, go to the EcoConsumer Archives.