City set to hit the garage sale trail See ‘kooky’ side of life
THERE aren’t too many sales where you can snaffle anything from a vintage car to a Star Wars light sabre.
That’s the beauty of the Garage Sale Trail that’s heading to Townsville this weekend, according to cofounder Andrew Valder.
Started by two blokes in Bondi Beach, the weekend has grown into a national event that stops about 3 million household items going to landfill each year.
Apart from encouraging people to live sustainably, Mr Valder said it was also a brilliant way for people to get to know the “kookier” side to their neighbours.
“At face value garage sales can be quite boring, but we’ve discovered they’re anything but,” he said.
“People really give it a crack. We’ve had kooky names like the Almost Deceased Estate Garage Sale … and My Big Italian Garage Sale.
“We’ve had apartments listed for sale, old cars, a vintage 1967 Jaguar, military tanks …”
In Queensland this year, there is a guitar signed by Bono up for grabs in Esk, a Faberge egg in Biloela and a 1.2m dinosaur in Gatton.
Mr Valder said while the weekend was about having fun, there was also a serious message – he wants people to think about how their purchasing affects the planet.
“We need to think about how, as a society, we can preserve resources we have,” he said.
“Giving things a second life is a really simple way we can do that. We just need to understand that our purchasing decisions can have a massive impact on the world we live in.”
Registration for the Garage Sale Trail is free at: garagesaletrail.com.au
There are more than 30 garage sales in Townsville already registered for this weekend.
Townsville City Council is supporting the event because it helps stop some items ending up in landfill.
Councillor Ann-maree Greaney said the council was always looking for ways to divert usable items like furniture, clothing and books from the dump.
“This event is going to help find new homes for many items which would have otherwise ended up in landfill,” she said.