APRIL 22, 2008

Think global,
swap local

WEBSITE: Swaptree

Today, in honor of Earth Day, we’ve found a pretty excellent website that gives fresh meaning to recycling. Swaptree — started by Greg Boesel and Mark Hexamer in 2004 to help people barter things — is remarkably simple to use: You sign up for an account (“join us in 8 seconds”), then rifle through your books, CDs, DVDs, and video games to find the ones with which you’re dying to part. Put them up on Swaptree (by typing in the UPC code or ISBN number), and the site instantly shows the items you can get in return — you pay only shipping, which Swaptree handily calculates for you. Wondering what to do with that dismal M. Night Shyamalan film you bought on DVD because you assumed it would be as good as The Sixth Sense? Put it up. Maybe you can acquire Fritz Lang’s M in exchange.

While it’s great actually getting something useful for all those quickly forgotten impulse purchases, knowing you’re not clogging a landfill is a gratifying bonus.

Swaptree

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