Bartering is a great way to re-use and recycle. In this Guest Post Squidoo Lensmaster Karentbten tells us about how bartering is part of her local community life and she spotlights a page that has some great bartering ideas.

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The laundry room at my apartment building holds more than washing machines. One table — and the area around it — is devoted to give away items, ranging from half empty bottles of shampoo to wood dinette sets. In fact, the first thing the maintenance person did when I moved in was show me where I could get some ’starter items’ of furniture; he had whisked some away into the work room adjacent to the laundry for just such a purpose.

The reason those items were there? People in the University District of Seattle, like in many other communities, lead transient lives. They can’t afford to take their housewares and their furniture with them.

I think there is more reuse in my building than there is many communities in my country. It can be harder for people who live spread out, who don’t have 100 people stacked above and below them, to give away items that they don’t need when they move, or to find them when they set up housekeeping again. Many of us wonder, though, how long we as a world community can afford to keep buying so much that’s new or discarding so much that’s still serviceable. Our wallets shrink, even as our landfills grow.

Thankfully there’s the internet, and a variety of creative platforms from eBay to Craiglist to the lesser known BookMooch book trading site. Squidoo lensmaster Tipi has an idea which she describes on Bartering Goods and Local Services. She has links to a number of bartering sites on the lens, as well some thought provoking questions: What about featuring items for barter on Squidoo lenses? What about starting a bartering group? Many of us have large networks. How about using our internet connections to trade objects and services, too?

Karentbten has published a page about reused and recycled Easter Baskets