A great way to fundraise that has little or no environmental impact is to hold a Recycle Sale!  Donations of used items can be taken early in the year, and if the first sale is a success you can make it a monthly sale to provide ongoing income for your group or cause.

People are usually only to happy to donate old household items. With a little elbow grease and some one with fixit skills, old furniture can be repaired, refinished or repainted for sale. Clothing can be washed, sorted and sold as well.

Green living has always focused on the renew ability of resources and recycling. What better way to keep stuff out of landfill than by refurbishing or repurposing it for further years of use? Some items too far gone to be restored to their former use can be rehabilitated into completely new offerings.

Old chair legs can be made into a coat rack, or a damaged cabinet stripped of its doors and turned into a bookshelf or hutch for framed photographs. Lace tablecloths with a scorch mark or hole can be turned into dainty curtains.

Make sure you have a plan to let people know about your sale! Without customers, it will fall flat - so do some proactive campaigning to get people interested and excited. Set aside one of the nicest items to raffle off, and another for a live auction if you have a huge turnout.

When you do your original donation gathering, be sure to pass out flyers and take email addresses down for a follow up. If you can get a local paper to donate some ad space, you can draw a crowd. Plan to hold the sale in a central location - perhaps a business will be willing to let you use their parking lot!

The weekend is naturally the best time to hold an sale, as more people will be available to help and the garage sale crowd will be out in force. If you can get a local grocery to provide refreshments, you can sell hotdogs, chips and soda for a few extra dollars or give them away to draw a crowd.  A bake sale can be held simultaneously.

With this type of fundraiser, not only do you bring the community together in a joint effort, but you can prevent landfills from taking the impact of items that still have years of usefulness left!