Saturday, August 12, 2017

Cute as a "Button": Reuse #11

I'm visiting a dear friend in Portland this weekend, and begged her to take me shopping. I desperately need work tops, and Portland had the cutest boutiques.

Our first stop was a cute consignment shop named Button.

If you aren't familiar with consignment shops or know the difference between them and thrift shops, the basic premise is this: the clothes are being sold by their previous owners through the shop for commission. Because the shop wants everyone to make money, they tend to be more curated (higher quality and trendier) than donation-based stores. There are plenty of brick and morter consignment stores, as well as online versions like ThredUp.


I walked out with a cute ruffle-sleeved top from J Crew, in like-new condition. The cool thing about Button's tags, is they list the normal retail price, so you know what a great deal you're getting.


Bottom line: if you are interested second-hand clothes, and want to minimize effort digging through racks of various quality clothing, consignment could be for you. Selling through these stores is also a great way to recoup some costs while cleaning out your closet.

Retail price: $49.50
Button price: $16.95
My savings:  $32.55 (66%)

The previous owner will make $8.47.


Thursday, August 3, 2017

Thoughtful Dogs!

Well, dog park volunteers and dog owners, that is... :)

T and I frequent Grandview Dog Park with Meeko. It has some great open space for play, and a grand view (get it?) of Mt. Rainier.

The dog parks in the area are fully run by volunteers via donations. The park has always had some great features, and the most recent group has made additional improvements.

There have always been several stations with rolls of bags to take care of your dog's mess, like this:


One of the recent improvements was the addition of bag holders throughout the park, where patrons can bring their plastic shopping bags:


But, you gasp, I don't have plastic bags! I always remember my reusable grocery bags!

For those who end up with plastic bags anyway, this is a great way for them to get an additional use. Using the collected bags also eliminates the use of a brand new bag for pet waste, which costs the volunteers or donors $$$ and time to stock, saving those resources for other improvement projects.

Next time you head to the dog park, consider grabbing a handful of bags to share at the park!

The other cool feature at the park is the rain water barrels used to collect doggie drinking water.


There are a couple water fountains throughout the park also, but the rain barrels allow dogs to get free water during the rainy and following months of the year. This saves on the water bill and allows the park to shut down plumbed fixtures in the colder months.

What interesting features do your parks have to best utilize resources?