Telephone bench before (left) and after (right)

eBay having a Green Team almost seems redundant – what is more green than the reuse of hundreds of thousands of products? However, a new initiative from eBay and Zem Joaquin (DIY maven and founder of sustainable style blog ecofabulous), proves that there is always room to improve, and also provides eBay the chance to officially brand themselves as the green buying alternative.

The Green Team Creative Use Competition is part of a larger six week re-purpose initiative. This particular leg encourages eBay users to devise a creative, practical, and chic repurpose use for an item of their choosing. The contest, curated by Zem, boasts a $1,000 vintage shopping experience on eBay and a personal consultation from ecofabulous. Members and fans will be able to vote for their favorite repurposed item, which participants have until November 19 to submit.

Zem offers inspiration through her own experience, including a transformed telephone bench that she used in a guest room of her house. She even goes as far as to offer a step-by-step break down of how to do it, along with a few other DIY tutorials.

The initiative was birthed partially from a Brandweek survey that stated 91% of 1000 Americans polled said that they would consider buying secondhand and that in the past year, 29 percent of them said they have been buying more secondhand goods and fewer new items. eBay states, “The eBay Green Team – comprised of over 100,000 eBay consumers and employees from 25 countries – is committed to encouraging smarter, greener shopping choices, and promoting the fact that the greenest product is often the one that exists today.”

For more information check HERE. To see how Zem repurposed the telephone bench, a cabinet, and a couch, check HERE.

From our friends at Short and Sweet NYC