Go green, keep green on this Earth Day

As Earth Day rolls around again, you dream of planting a tree or adding substantial shrubbery to your landscape. But with your budget as bare of extra cash as your yard is empty of plantings, where are you going to get the green stuff to spend on making your yard greener?

If there’s no way to stretch your funds, one answer is to grow them. And you can do that by taking a good look at all you already own, with a sharp eye for recycling.

You may already be recycling predictable items such as cans and bottles. You may also sell castoff goods on eBay or to businesses that resell books, comic books, sports cards, music CDs, used clothing and more. You may be savvy enough to sell anything old that’s in respectable condition in yard sales or to antique emporiums, too. If you’ve already been selling things to supplement the budget, where can you find additional salable items to fund your garden dreams?

The answer is to scrutinize all you own with an eye for things you are sure no one would want. Look for objects that you think are too unwieldy to sell online. Pay attention, too, to things of any size that you see as out of style, weathered, worn and even rusted or broken. Scan your attic, garage, basement, barn, shed, boat, yard or fields and take an inventory of all the unwanted items you see.

Then look around you for businesses that rely on old items to add character to their decor. As they prepare to open for the summer season, restaurants, inns and lodges, galleries and many other enterprises are freshening up their decorations. For some, that includes adding older items, which they just might purchase from you.

An ideal destination for turning junk into green stuff is Plants Unlimited in Rockport. The Route 1 garden center is packed with plants interspersed with old items that add ambiance to the plant emporium.

Standing beside a weather-bleached, wooden, clothes-drying rack that sports spokes radiating from a central cylinder, Plants Unlimited owner Hammon Buck pointed to a space where a spoke was missing. “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be appealing, when it comes to providing ambiance here or in the garden,” he said. “Items like this can stand alone or be used to train vines on.”

Near a rusted outdoor faucet, Buck pointed to other objects that prove he has a flair for finding ornamental potential in oddball castoffs. “Think old, local and funky, with the emphasis on funky,” he advised. “Americana is good. Windowpanes and shutters are always in demand. And anything agricultural is pretty certain to be hot.”

Among the more eye-catching items Buck has on hand are old painted signs, an American Indian carved of wood, and even a concrete Madonna. For charm, a child-size wire chair and a weather beaten, wooden doll’s house cannot be beaten.

Buck usually buys these wares from auctioneers, but he will consider purchasing items from individuals, too. And he’s also willing to swap your things for green stuff – literally – from his nursery instead of paying you cash.