Eco-friendly school fundraising: the rummage sale!

I posted a while back on the silent auction as a green fundraiser, and let's add the good, old-fashioned rummage sale to the list of eco-friendly school fundraisers! Off the top of my head, I know of one nearby public elementary school, a bazillion preschools and churches, and one really expensive private school that all use rummage sales as their main fundraisers. We've talked about how we love to shop at rummage sales -- oh the bargains! Now, I'm experiencing the flip-side of the equation -- spring cleaning in prep for a rummage sale, and it's almost sinful how good it feels to clear out some of our old junk, er, I mean, good, practical, reusable stuff! Because our preschool didn't make as much money as originally hoped at our auction, we've added a spring rummage sale to the mix. While I don't relish the ideas of working the rummage sale (Unless we can sit around and drink beers on lawn chairs? Oh wait. That's garage sales. Drat!), I am loving the spring cleaning/purge that this upcoming rummage sale is prompting.

What's truly refreshing this year is that the youngest in our family is finally on-board with the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle mantra. She's open to sorting through old toys and games and puzzles and clothes, and sending them off to find new lives with different families: "That's for babies. I can do that puzzle in my sleep!" Prior to this year, I did a lot of "toy harvesting" while the kids were not home, in the hope that if they didn't see what was going into the charitable giving pile, they wouldn't miss it. But if they happened to catch a fleeting glimpse... Forget about it. All my sneaky sorting was for naught: "But Mom! I love the Winne-the-Pooh lunch plate shaped like a sandwich! I can't live without it. And hey! That's my favorite sippy cup! I love that cup. How am I supposed to drink without it?? Wait, is that my toddler spoon and fork? Mom are you kidding? I love that spoon and fork!! And my sunflower bib? What the...?"

So this change in attitude with the 4-year-old is huge. Room by room, we are clearing out. Filling bags. Delivering to the preschool. At the sale, the school makes needed funds. The local neighborhood gets bargains on reused goods. Charitable organizations benefit from the excess at the finish. What's makes a rummage sale green? Emphasis on reuse and keeping local goods local. The other thing that struck me this year is that even when we graduate out of this school, if they continue to run a rummage sale, we'll always be free to donate our stuff to the sale. Or find another local church or school who will gladly take donations. Rummage sales really rock!