Reduce, reuse and party on

One of the kids’ songs my daughters love is a pro-green diddy by Jack Johnson . It’s called “The Three Rs,” which are, of course, to reduce, reuse and recycle.

The world talks a lot about recycling, and that’s good. But as Johnson suggests in his song, it’s really more important to reduce and reuse. Here’s a bit from the song:

“If you’re going to the market to buy some juice
You’ve got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister’s got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we’ve got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R’s don’t work out
And if you’ve got to make some trash
Don’t throw it out
Recycle, we’ve got to learn to recycle.”

A friend of mine who lives in Coeur d’Alene told me about a friend of hers who is hosting a swap party there to tackle those first two Rs.

She invited her friends to bring 10 items they “once adored, but are now tired of.” Lamps, decor, handbags, dishes, whatever.

Upon receiving an R.S.V.P., the party host plans to send out 10 tags to each guest to attach to the swap items. She’s encouraging them to write a description, origin or story to go along with each item.

In the meantime, the host will then write the name of each attendee on 10 clothespins.

“To claim an item, simply attach your clothespin to the tag. At the end of the evening, if two or more clothespins are claiming one item, there will be a drawing to see who the lucky recipient is,’ the host wrote in an e-mail.

All unclaimed items will be donated to charity.

Great idea, huh? You could just put a general call out for any household items or throw a party with a theme, like children’s toys, clothes, kitchen items, etc.

Does anyone else do something similar? Has it been successful?