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Posted by: | Posted on: March 23, 2023

4 Simple Strategies to a Sustainable Spring

It’s a cold Thursday morning here in Northwest Ohio. As I write this, the snow is coming down and we had a winter weather advisory last night. (Thankfully, we didn’t get as much as predicted…we rarely do!) While it’s technically spring now, you wouldn’t know it by the temperatures until early to mid-April around here. But that doesn’t stop us from preparing for the warmer weather and attempting to break free from our cabin fever.

As the weather breaks and you begin to get out and about more, it’s a great time to think about how you can personally live with the intention to be more environmentally conscious this year. Below are a few examples of changes you might consider.

Take Fewer Road Trips

We’re very fortunate at Lyon Software that because of the nature of our work, we’ve been able to remain a work-from-home company since 2020. Because of this, we’ve been able to significantly reduce the amount of pollution we’re putting out through our vehicles. It’s also helped us to cut out a lot of unnecessary spending.

Not everyone has this opportunity to work from home though, and I get that. Especially our amazing clients in the healthcare field who are at their hospitals every day caring for their communities. While you may not be able to work from home, you can reduce some of your drive time.

One practice I have done for years (well before the pandemic) is to batch my trips. If I have to be on the far end of town for an appointment, I’ll make sure to make additional stops with it. Even if it means waiting a week or two. No sense in driving across town twice!

Mow Less

Last year in my neighborhood, there was a house that didn’t cut their grass for the entire month of May. They called it “No Mowing May”. They even had a sign in their yard that they were observing this to allow bees to pollinate the flowers. As you can imagine at the height of growing season, their lawn was a disaster from an appearance perspective. It was refreshing to see someone who wasn’t worried about what others thought about that.

This was their way of encouraging positive growth in the animal kingdom. Maybe you’re like me, and aren’t ready to commit at that level. That’s OK. Instead of skipping for a month, we can commit to one mow per week from April to July, then shift to once every other week from August to November.

Donate Your Old Clothes

One popular springtime activity that you may be doing soon is going through your closet and updating your wardrobe. Whatever clothing is still usable, make sure you donate it instead of throwing it away. Whether you’re taking it to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or giving it to a friend, giving your clothes a second life is always a great, environmentally conscious idea.

Set Up an eBay Account

I’ve written about this before, but selling on eBay is a great way to live sustainably by giving your items a second home. It’s also a great way to boost the economy, since you’re earning extra coin and spending with a shipping service. You’re also keeping old items out of the landfill.

If you’ve never done this, you would be amazed at what will sell on Ebay or Facebook Marketplace. When I first started at Lyon Software, we had 15 old multi-line phones sitting in a cabinet that could have easily been thrown away. I offered to sell them on eBay. A week later, I shipped them off to their new owner after receiving a bid of $287.

What Will You Do?

This is a fairly surface level overview of a few simple ideas for living a more environmentally conscious lifestyle this year. I hope this gives you some motivation to participate. I’d love to hear what else you would add.

Please leave a comment letting all of our readers know what you plan to do to be more sustainable this spring. I look forward to reading about it!

Posted by: | Posted on: August 9, 2019

3 Unique Ways your Community Benefits from a Neighborhood Garage Sale

When it comes to shopping, we all want to purchase a great product at the best possible price, right? Recently, I’ve discovered that one of the best ways to do this is to spend a few hours on Saturday morning shopping your local community garage sale.

Last weekend, my wife and I attended West Toledo’s Library Village Garage Sale, which is about 15 minutes from where we live. Shopping neighborhood garage sales can be a fun and rewarding hobby where you can score some great deals. Besides that, a community sale also offers 3 unique benefits to the host neighborhood.

 

Get to know other people in your neighborhood

Garage sales are one of the best ways to get to know neighbors that you otherwise would never meet. I mean, where else can you come onto a stranger’s lawn, go through their old stuff, have a conversation, and offer to buy at 90% less than retail value? 

However, the benefits of these sales is not only in the buying and selling. Garage sales bring people together in a fun and festive atmosphere. For instance, last weekend there were people grilling hot dogs and selling tamales at the check-out lines. One guy was even selling corn as he rode his bicycle! As you know, the better you get to know your neighbors, the more tight-knit and healthy a community can become.

 

Second-hand shopping is good for the planet

Community-wide garage sales continue to grow in popularity because they are a win for the seller, buyer, and environment. For the seller, they are an opportunity to get cash for your items, and you’re guaranteed to have a lot of traffic throughout the day. As for the buyer, there is a much higher ROI to shop a neighborhood that has 80 sales within a one-mile area than to drive up and down random streets looking for a deal.

Perhaps the biggest win goes to Planet Earth, though. According to a 2013 infographic published by signs.com, there are on average 165,000 garage sales held in the United States every week. Furthermore, roughly 690,000 weekly shoppers make purchases while attending these sales. That’s a lot of merchandise that finds a second home and is spared a potential trip to the landfill. Can you imagine what 690,000 items per week would look like in one year?

 

Everyone who participates will likely profit

There are three main reasons why garage sales are such a great local profit opportunity. Of course, you already know that the seller profits when an item sells, and the buyer profits by paying far less than retail value. So, what is another way a community garage sale might be profitable?

Looking at our infographic above, the average profit margin of garage sale items that are later resold on eBay is 462%. Many people, myself included, are turning the idea of shopping at community garage sales into a fun side business. This is a great way to learn about various markets and earn a profit at the same time.

Me checking prices on eBay during the sale.

 

What neighborhood will you shop in this weekend?

Shopping at garage sales is the ultimate participation activity for being environmentally sustainable while simultaneously benefitting your local community. You never know what hidden treasures you’ll come across that someone is practically giving away!

This Saturday should be one of the best of the year for getting out and scoring some bargains. That’s because the second Saturday in August is National Garage Sale Day in the US. If you’re ready to get involved, you can use these three links to find a community sale in your neighborhood.

By the way, if you do go out this weekend, be sure to let me know about your best deals in the comments below.

Posted by: | Posted on: February 23, 2016

Join Us At ACHI!

It’s almost time for the 2016 ACHI National Conference and we couldn’t be more excited! The Association for Community Health Improvement will be hosting the event in Baltimore this year, March 1-3. We look forward to ACHI every year and always enjoy the conference. ACHI is a great time for Lyon team members to catch up with veteran CBISA users and engage with newcomers. ACHI attendees will have many chances to catch up with various members of the Lyon Software team this year.

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Posted by: | Posted on: September 23, 2015

Connecting to Transform Communities Conference

We would like to share some exciting information about the upcoming Connecting to Transform Communities Conference!  It will be held on November 16-17, 2015 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota at the Minneapolis Marriott Northwest.

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