Finding a new place can be a lot of fun. Picking a roommate, looking around at different places until you find that one apartment that is perfect, close enough to work, laundry on-site, get a good deal on the rent. But then the really fun part comes, filling the apartment with stuff. Where do you start when you want to fill the apartment with stuff but be green about it? Garage sales are a good option to start out with, then move up to buying new, green products to fill in gaps.

The art of the garage sale has become an American tradition. And now it is time to make it part of being green. Every weekend tons of different garage sales, sometimes two, three or even five families selling at one place, filled with unique stuff for prices that can make it seem like a waste to buy something new. Starting with an empty apartment, I ventured to the local garage sales to find the bare essentials. The beauty of a garage sale is you never know what you will find, and for how cheap you can get something. 

But garage sales are also a good way to be green. Garage sales are basically another way to recycle except a lot more fun. When buying things at a garage sale you are using something that might have ended up wasted, thrown away when it is perfectly fine for use.

The first thing you should do is making a plan of action.  Go to craiglist and find garage sales in your area. Use google maps to plot them on a map and you're all set. Here are a few examples of things found at only six different garage sales, and how much each cost:

-      Practically never used microwave- $5

-      Clothes drawer- $20

-      Knife set- $5

-      Plates, cups, bowls- $15

-    Shakespeare hanging trinket- a quarter

-      Ikea table and lamp- $10

-      Copy of Les Miserables- a quarter

-      Chairs- $1