Sunday, August 16

Post from the past: My "new" reusable napkins

One of the green goals that I set for myself (and my family) for this year was to switch from paper napkins to reusable napkins.

Goal accomplished!
No, they don’t match but that does not matter to me. What matters to me is that they are soft and not disposable.

I picked up 8 brand new napkins at my local thrift store for 50 cents apiece (can you say bargain). My kids actually like that they are different colors (don’t ask me why). I am thinking about maybe getting a set that “matches” for when company comes over but I just hate to buy new when there is so much perfectly good “used” out there.

During that same thrift store trip I also picked up 6 small juice glasses for the kiddos (no more plastic cups for them), 2 swimsuits for my daughter (1 for home and 1 for daycare), and a pair of baseball pants for my son (I swear they had never even been worn. Not a speck of dirt on them. And they are white.)

It really made me sad to see how many quality items there were at this one store. Just rows upon rows of perfectly good ‘used” items (TVs, games, books, clothes, toys, reusable bags, backpacks, dishes, towels, etc).

I wish the stigma of shopping at thrift stores would just disappear and people would realize the benefits. Shopping at a consignment store or a thrift store or whatever you want to call it not only makes economical sense, it also makes environmental sense.

My advice; grab your reusable bags and head down to your local thrift store to save a tree, save water, save resources & save $!

8 comments:

Jen on the Edge said...

I collect white cloth napkins whenever I find them. Even they don't match, they actually do since they're all the same color. I have plain ones, embroidered ones, monogrammed ones, etc.

I also love thrift stores because my daughters and I will find amazing wool sweaters and then we'll bring them home, felt them, and make all sorts of great things.

Over Coffee - the green edition said...

Those are 2 great ideas Jen!

Lisa said...

I love cloth napkins! My advise is have more than you think you will ever need because you will need them lol. For two of us I have around 18 that we use all the time and 4 nice ones. All but the nice ones are always dirty by the end of the week.

Lisa said...

OH and I forgot to say. I don't shop at thrift stores because I feel guilty buying things that I can afford new and others can't afford anything but the used stuff. I know I shouldn't feel that way but I do. :(

Daisy said...

I switched to cloth napkins last fall and never looked back. In fact, I wonder what took me so long! They're so easy to wash and maintain, and I only buy them used or on clearance.

Over Coffee - the green edition said...

I know what you mean Daisy. They are so much nicer (softer) to use than disposable napkins. Depending on what's for dinner...we actually don't wash ours every day either. Our grandparents really knew what they were doing didn't they? ;-)

CMC said...

I completely agree with you about the thrift store thing. I LOVE my local thrift store. I've gotten things from there (Jones New York suits, cashmere shells, a Liz Claiborne column dress suitable for a black tie affair, a Nolan Miller crepe suit) that I would NEVER have been able to afford had they been brand new. Who cares if they were gently used? Would anyone that saw me know where my clothes came from? Not unless I told them, no. I've even gotten some stuff from there NWT - I just can't beat the prices! I'm addicted!

spitfyr323 at hotmail dot com

Over Coffee - the green edition said...

Glad to know that I am not the only one addicted to thrift store shopping spitfry! And I couldn’t agree with you more about people not knowing.