The Buyerarchy of Needs

Are you already overwhelmed with stressful holiday errands and overspending? Worried about getting buried in all the packaging?

Consider a new low-waste way to approach the holidays this year that might save you some money and bring you a little more joy. The Buyerarchy of Needs is a visual guide to remind you of your other options besides buying something new.

As you look over your holiday lists, take a creative moment and ask yourself:

Is there something I already have I could use in a new way? Could I borrow or swap to get what I need? Maybe a thrift or resale shop has it? Can I make it?

Intrigued? Resourceful PDX is your local resource for tips and ideas to make simple changes in everyday choices. In fact, the Resourceful PDX map includes community-based organizations that help residents reuse, swap, repair and share such items as tools, building or art supplies, household goods or other materials rather than throwing away or buying new.

Resolve to be a thoughtful consumer in the new year to save money and resources. Explore the website for more ideas and tips in our resourceful #holiday series. 

Learn how The Buyerarchy of Needs came to be by designer and illustrator, Sarah Lazarovic.

Show your creative spirit this Halloween

Clever costumes and Portland seem to go hand-in-hand this time of year. One idea shared with Resourceful PDX was from a mom who created Halloween witch costumes for her two young daughters – out of a 80’s style, black lacy prom dress!

Start planning now for your own Halloween costume, and take advantage of all the great resources Portland offers for making, swapping or renting a costume.

Make a costume

Used clothing and reused craft supply stores allow you to create a unique and inexpensive costume of your own making.

• Find cool homemade costume ideas online. Pinterest offers a wealth of ideas to inspire you! Explore ways to get crafty, adorn a costume, and make hair wreaths or masks.
• Find all kinds of fabric and supplies at SCRAP for super low prices and costume ideas on their website.

Reuse a costume

There are great finds lurking throughout the city. Consignment, second hand and thrift stores are great resources for costumes, or clothes to make costumes. They also often have used costumes for sale leading up to Halloween.

• Vintage clothing shops abound in Portland, with clothing options for all decades.
• Many children’s resale shops have kids’ costumes as well.
• Bonus! Chinook Book offers coupons for many Portland area resale shops and the Resourceful PDX map shows Resale Shops too!
• Or attend or plan a costume swap – your friend’s costume from last year may be perfect for you this year.

Rent a costume

Short on time or crafty abilities to make your own? Renting gives you options for a stand-out costume.

• Helen’s Pacific Costumers and Hollywood Vintage offer costumes for rent.

Oregon takes steps toward more reuse

Cindy Correll, Reuse Alliance Oregon chair and Resourceful PDX partner, shares an update on reuse and repair in Oregon.

Reuse Alliance has a vision of making reuse a mainstream part of people’s lives and as common as recycling currently is in our culture.

The Oregon Legislature recently passed two new laws that involve reuse and repair. Senate Bill 245 and Senate Bill 263 set goals and make funding available to develop programs to increase the practice of reuse and repair.

This creates exciting opportunities to increase the public’s awareness of and participation in the practice of reuse and repair.

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The new laws support implementation of Materials Management in Oregon: 2050 Vision and Framework for Action. While earlier versions of this plan focused mostly on recycling efforts and managing waste, the 2050 plan addresses the full life cycle of materials (from raw materials, to manufacturing, purchasing and use, to disposal). It establishes a foundation for our state to use fewer raw materials and to get the most out of the resources we do consume. Reuse and repair play a big role in maximizing the useful life of the manufactured goods that are part of our daily lives.

Highlights from SB 263 addressing reuse and repair include:

• Waste prevention and reuse education programs in elementary and secondary schools.
• Funding or infrastructure support to promote and sustain reuse, repair, leasing or sharing efforts.
• Technical assistance to promote and sustain reuse, repair or leasing of materials or other sharing efforts to reduce waste.

SB 245 will make grants available to government agencies, nonprofits and businesses that want to implement programs in support of the reuse and repair goals outlined in Oregon’s 2050 plan.

With grant funds becoming available early next year, it will take some time before we begin to see results from this important new legislation. Over the next few years, expect to see new, innovative programs that give you more options for reusing and repairing your belongings.

Resourceful PDX gives Portland residents tools and ideas for reducing waste

Get involved with reuse and repair now by tapping into what exists in the community already. Explore Portland’s many second-hand stores to find new-to-you clothing, furniture, electronics, household or craft items and salvage building materials.

If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, how-to classes and online tutorials can help you improve your sewing, bike or home repair skills quickly. There are also community resources, such as Repair PDX and local repair shops, that can fix anything from clothing and shoes, to furniture, tools, electronics, appliances and more.

As you’re repairing, reusing, borrowing and sharing, remember that you’re blazing the trail for others to follow. Keep up the good work!

Chinook Book offers more than coupons in the new edition

Carrie Treadwell, from Resourceful PDX partner Chinook Book, shares highlights from the latest edition of the local coupon resource.

Chinook Book highlights local, sustainable businesses with a belief that businesses that give back also thrive in the community. The Chinook Book team spends time thinking about businesses and their industries and the approach and criteria with which they appear in the book.

The 16th annual edition has updates and improvements of both the print and mobile editions. The print edition includes information and resources on how to connect with local food and Portland’s many farmers markets, as well as the plethora of local businesses that are in line with resourceful living. The new app launched in July and offers even more personalized navigation and provides savings at your fingertips.  

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Resourceful PDX shares community resources with the newly updated map (page 403 in the print edition). Some resources are in the Chinook Book for the first time in the Home and Garden category, like Salvage Works, ReClaim It! and St Johns Living Well.

As always, there are many places to go for used art supplies, building materials and clothing. Look for coupons and tips for bike shops, consignment and thrift stores, hardware stores, and even car sharing opportunities.

Find savings by using both the print book and mobile app, available at local retailers and through school and nonprofit fundraisers.

Find back-to-school savings with Chinook Book

Carrie Treadwell, from Resourceful PDX partner Chinook Book, offers her insights on last minute uses for the local coupon resource.

As any parent of school-age kids knows, getting ready for back-to-school includes lots of lists of what kids need for the classroom, for the lunchroom, or out on the field.

Carrie wants you to put your Chinook Book coupons to work for you and your family. The mobile coupons expire on August 31, 2015, while the print ones expire on October 31, 2015. Before the new edition arrives in September, utilize what you already have and save money!

With kids in school, the Chinook Book offers coupons in many categories, including Fashion and Gifts, Grocery Products and Local Grocery. It has you covered for back-to-school and last minute needs, from clothes and supplies to food and fashion. Savings abound with local, sustainable businesses in Portland.

Are you after new or used clothes?

Under Fashion and Gifts there are a number of places to purchase kids’ clothes, coats, shoes and more. A few clothing options include Grasshopper, Bella Stella and two locations of Piccolina.

There are adult resale options too! Sequel Apparel, Silver Lining, Button and Here We Go Again.

Trying for waste-free lunches or healthier lunch and snack options? Need a new backpack or a way to make an old one new again?

Stock up with grocery products at local stores to create weekly meal plans and to reduce waste while shopping. A few grocery options include New Seasons, Food Front Coop and Grocery Outlet.

Most local grocers carry backpacks, lunch bags and water bottles for supplies and waste-free lunches. Shops that carry kid friendly items also carry these. Many of the coupons take a percentage off or $5-$10 off a purchase based on how much you spend.

SCRAP offers inexpensive school supplies and art supplies to add something special to favorite or worn-in items. The coupon offers an additional $3 off of a $10 purchase.

Get more tips about waste-free lunches at a previous Resourceful PDX post under kids in school.

Plan ahead and make your lists based on Chinook Book savings!

For family and friends who have it all, share the bounty of the Northwest

Yvonne and Josh are a creative duo who love to make things inspired by the Northwest seasonal harvests. Instead of purchasing items for friends and family, many who live outside of Oregon, they give batches of homemade goodies that show off the bounty of the seasons – and find a place in their hearts and stomachs! 

Josh and Yvonne treat family and friends with their holiday creations.

Shop local for food and supplies

For their marionberry jam, they plan ahead in the summer when the berry bounty is plentiful and either buy berries at their neighborhood Montavilla Farmers Market, or they pick berries at Sauvie Island Farms. (Both the market and farm offer winter hours too.) 

Josh brews beer and roasts his own coffee. He uses old air pop popcorn makers from thrift stores for roasting coffee and buys other coffee supplies from local store Mr. Green Beans.

Yvonne bakes cookies and candies, like hazelnut toffee, that she gifts in holiday tins. She purchases tins for toffee and canning jars for jam from local thrift stores and takes them back from friends when they are empty to reuse them year after year. They also purchase food preservation equipment for the jam from small businesses like Mirador Community Store.

While their loved ones get bountiful, consumable gifts, Yvonne and Josh get the satisfaction of working together to make delicious, low-waste creations.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to DIY, you can still get the most of Portland offerings by shopping local at one of the many artisan events. The Resourceful PDX event calendar lists holiday happenings.

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Find gift ideas for other hard-to-buy-for people in your life in our resourceful holiday series. #holiday

Sustainable resources abound in Chinook Book's 15th Anniversary edition

Carrie Treadwell, from Be Resourceful partner Chinook Book, shares highlights from the latest edition of the local coupon resource.

“Chinook Book highlights local, sustainable businesses with a belief that businesses that give back also thrive in the community. The Chinook Book team spends time thinking about businesses and their industries and the approach and criteria with which they appear in the book.

Significant updates and improvements are part of our annual print and mobile editions to help celebrate our proud 15-year history in Portland. You'll find more coupons than ever before, exciting new merchants and enhanced app navigation.

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The newly updated map (page 390 in the print edition) highlights resources that are part of the Be Resourceful program:

• Places to borrow, share and swap like the tool libraries and kitchen shares and the swap and play spaces.
• Places to go for used art supplies, building materials and clothing.
• And much more!

You’ll also find a plethora of information and resources for local food, including Portland’s farmers markets, as well as many local businesses that are in line with resourceful living. Look for coupons and tips for bike shops, consignment and thrift stores, hardware stores, and even car sharing opportunities.”

Tap into savings by using both the print book and mobile app, available at local retailers and through school and nonprofit fundraisers. 

Save money on kids' clothes

Kids grow fast! Finding gently used clothes at secondhand stores and clothing swaps is a great way to save money and help teach kids about the value of resourceful living. As kids move through clothes from growing up, playing hard, or the inevitable lost-and-found bin, parents need affordable options and tips for saving money on kids’ clothing.

Some of Portland's used children's clothing stores and resale shops are filled with great quality, and sometimes never worn, clothes and shoes for all ages. They allow parents to buy the right size clothes for the right season for their ever growing kids. When you’re done with those clothes, you can sell them back at some of these same shops so another family can use them.

Swapping clothes with friends and neighbors is another option, especially connecting with those who have kids older than yours, where a cycle of hand-me-downs can happen. 

Local resources such as sewing classes, cobblers and tailors can help you repair, rather than retire, garments with small tears, missing buttons and broken zippers. Visit a Portland-area Repair Café for free assistance on mending and fixing clothes.

Metro Parent maintains a comprehensive list of consignment shops in and around Portland. Look for coupons for many of these shops in your print or mobile Chinook Book.