Get in the spirit of no waste this November and follow the Garage Sale Trail

If you Marie Kondo’d your life in lockdown, then it can mean only one thing – it’s time to get out on the Garage Sale Trail again.

Just like the car boot and garage sales of times gone by, whether you’re selling or buying this year, it’s all in the spirit of no waste.

Each year, it’s estimated the Garage Sale Trail saves around 1.5 million kilograms of waste from landfill.

The Garage Sale Trail will run across the weekends of Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 November and Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 November.

A nationwide event, this year’s Garage Sale Trail will take place online.

This year’s sale will see local partners ACT NoWaste and online environmentally-driven marketplace Rosella Street participate.

Rosella Street Director Mick Fritschy says the event is a great one for fostering community spirit and engagement.

“The Garage Sale Trail is the ultimate opportunity to do the big spring clean! It gives you the chance to declutter and move on your pre-loved things, or go on the hunt and grab a great bargain,” Mick said.

“Given the event doesn’t allow in-person garage sales this year, we have set up our platform to support people to run virtual garage sales.

“They are super simple to set up, and support arranging delivery or contactless pick up through platform chat.”

He encouraged everyone to get involved and use the event as another opportunity to think about their items, and how they can be handed on to a new home in a sustainable way.

Mick also stressed that with this year’s virtual offering, it is important to keep yourself safe online.

“That’s why all users on our platform will be ID verified and set up with a secure payment system. So no scams, no crime, just a safe enjoyable event,” he said.

Mick also reminded people that any unsold items afterwards can be donated through local platform Rosella Street, rather than going to landfill.

It’s recommended people pick between 10 and 20 easily-shippable items and provide details such as size and measurements so they can be easily purchased by anyone, anywhere.

The Garage Sale Trail website provides plenty of handy resources and templates to assist with all the steps along the way.

Organisers also recommend doing a quick test run before you go live to make sure any glitches can be worked out.

ACT NoWaste Education team leader Robbie Ladbrook added that the virtual Garage Sale Trail is “a great fun way to help get your waste sorted after a spring clean, save money, learn some creative upcycling skills and connect with neighbours.”

“Along with the Garage Sale Trail, the ACT Government’s online Recyclopaedia is a go-to guide to reusing, recycling and getting waste sorted for the ACT and has advice on what to do when you’re done with it for hundreds of everyday items,” she said.

They’ve been long-time partners of the trail. Back in 2019, the event saw more than 300 garage sales across the ACT, 8000 bargains snapped up and 58,000 kilograms of waste diverted from landfill.

Ms Ladbrook hopes for even better results this year.

Learn more about the Garage Sale Trail, find the nearest stall to you and learn how you can set up your virtual garage sale this year.

Original Article published by Lottie Twyford on The RiotACT.