This is where you would go if you had to start from scratch…read more The shop occupies an enviable corner location and is as big as three regular shops. It is also right at the top of the shopping strip. In a lower room (just a couple of steps down) is furniture. Good quality lounges, wardrobes, shelves and desks for example. In an ante room was men's and kids clothing, and also women's sleep attire and dresses. Toys were in there as well. A good number of tracks contained the men gear. Denim, trousers, jackets, shirts, tees, ties, belts... There must have been about 100 women's shoes. Half of the main room was also women's shirts only. More space was then dedicated to jackets, costs, tips, belts, scarves, bags and even wedding dresses. Books galore, DVDs, CDs, even Vhs. Vinyl. A back wall houses the house hold items. Everything from dinner sets to decorations. Then there were buckets of bits. For example, one bucket contained button sets (the ones you'd buy at the supermarket). Jewellery as well. I got op shop fatigue in there. Prices were extremely good. I picked up two fashion dresses for $8 a piece.

As we walk into Reverse Garbage in Marrickville we are met with gigantic paint brushes and pencils…read more The exterior of this recycling warehouse is almost an art installation more so than a shop. "You can't look for something here. You just have to look and hope you find something." I am told when I ask what we are looking for. The answer to my innocent question both profound and vague. We scour the aisles looking for props and set pieces for the music video we've been hired to make. The gigantic dinosaur head is no good, nor are the various blow up hippopotami with back packs on. There are buckets full of circuit boards and shelves full of old digitised and erased film and audio reels. It would seem that everything you could ever imagine would be, at one point or another, housed within these walls. There's a book section out back and I sneak in to have a look, I should be looking for music video props but can't help myself and scour the children's section looking for Seuss. No such luck, there never is. I find 'The Little Match Girl' by Hans Christian Anderson and being that it is in great condition and only $1 I decide to buy it, even though I know that it will make me depressed. A warehouse full of everything you need as long as you don't know what you need.

This place is simultaneously the biggest hoarder of crap and a gold-mine. Depending on what you're…read moreafter. If you're after 20 of the same birthday card, 100m long reams of paper, a never ending supply of pipe cleaners, rolls of carpet and maroon velvet or manikin feet and arms, then you may just be in luck. Or, rather, if you're not exactly sure what you're after then you may be in luck here too. I'm a bigger fan of The Bower, a similar joint next door with a tad more class, but a trip to Reverse Garbage can be rewarding - we bought 50 cardboard drums from Reverse Garbage which we used as seating for a performance and then recycled into punch bowls, a fortress and super-sized bowling pins in the future. Perfect for a themed party, you can pretty much base your theme on whatever you find the most of at Reverse Garbage. NB: Specified items may or may not actually be stocked by Reverse Garbage. But rest assured that similar such crap will be.

There is something special about this place. Some people will feel that I am being slightly funny,…read morebut really there is a kind of comfortableness about the people who manage this workshop. Sunnyfield Enterprises is a real business catering for people with a variety of disabilities. They have jobs to do that are productive and can range from packaging to assembling items. There is a range of workers from all walks of life and a range of age and abilities. The one beautiful thing is that the workers are all accepting of one another. I was with a young man who was on work experience and he was embraced by everyone. He made friends instantly. He felt safe, secure and productive.

OzHarvest is a non-profit organization that collects excess food from restaurants/events and…read moredelivers to people in need. I have been a volunteer with OzHarvest for a couple of months and I am loving it ! Everyone I met through my volunteering is cool, funny, full of love and warmth. Lisa & team do a great job in organizing various events to promote OzHarvest or rescuing more food :) The process to becoming a volunteer is simple. Just click on their website, contact them. Lisa will invite you to their office for a quick chat, fill up a simple form and you are good to go !

This was not my experience, but that of my Partner, and he came home so ebullient, I have sat him…read moredown and made intensive enquiries about his Corporate experience with them. He gave it a hands down 10 stars out of 5! Mal and his team had organised a three day conference, and they wanted to finish on a high note. They decided that volunteering would provide that outlet. One of the experiences Oz Harvest offer, is, for groups or Corporations to pay $175.00 (+ GST) a head to have a three hour cooking and tasting experience. The group of 24 people showed up and were divided into teams, each team was assigned a chef, who instructed them in hygiene, basic knife skills, basic commercial kitchen skills ("Hot Behind" no knives in the sink, etc.) Each team had a different menu to cook. A team may have 1 to 4 dishes to prepare over a three hour period, using ingredients that would otherwise have been put to waste, but will now be distributed to the homeless. (Pretty cool, Huh?) Mal said that there was a huge amount of laughter and camaraderie generated during the experience, and they prepared about 250 meals that afternoon. They also got to sample what they had made once they had finished. They kept the apron that they were given, and most people bought the Oz Harvest Cook Book, that has recipes from just about every Chef and Celebrity Chef you have ever heard of. I know I said I did not need another cook book, ever, but I am so glad Mal's colleague gave him one! The purchase of the book provides 120 meals. (Go on..Jump on the website and buy one, you know you want to!) Mal said it was one of the most thoroughly "Feel Good" things he has ever done in a team building exercise. I would encourage any of you to suggest this activity if you ever have input into Team Building activities. Obviously, of course, you can just volunteer for all other sorts of things, that do not require you paying anything!

The Green living Centre is an absolute necessity for the sustainable-minded suburb of Newtown!…read more Specializing in anything from warm farming to bike pannier making, window farms to natural cleaning, this is a powerhouse of eco education. Run by extremely knowledgeable staff and volunteers, the Centre has tons of educational pamphlets and books to kick-start anyone's personal quest for conservation. They're more than happy to sit and chat with you about how to compost or how you can use less in-home energy. My favourite aspect of the Centre is that it hosts workshops on anything "green" you can imagine. Some of the workshops teach skills, while others are "talk and tea" that act as a forum for eco discussion. I've been to a "talk-and-tea" pickling workshop, as well as a DIY worm composting workshop, and both were fantastic! If you're like me and are somewhat new to the whole eco-sphere of living, this is the perfect place to go! No judgement, only encouragement. Stop in and give it a go!

The Australian Red Cross stores do op shop with style. Not a far cry from your neighborhood Vinnies…read moreor Salvos in terms of selection, their design and display put it step closer to classy. I walked off Oxford and into the Paddington Red Cross shop the other day in search of a facincator for the upcoming Melbourne Cup. To my delight, I found a pretty decent selection as well as a good array of inexpensive costume jewelry. With earrings and bracelets at $5 and necklaces $10-$15, you can afford to pick up that slightly tacky, one-time-wear accessory that will likely get lost behind your bed for the rest of time. In the front of the store you will find a rack of new spring dresses. New should be in quotation marks here, but who's getting picky. I also enjoyed the display of colorful hats hanging on a row of sewing machines. With a few small design details and some organizational care, the Australian Red Cross is in the standing for awesome thrift shop in Paddo. And with a good cause to boot? Well done, you.

Buying recycled clothing has never been as much fun as when the Red Threads boutique opened in…read morePaddington. A Red Cross thrift shop, this store has premium recycled clothing from celebrities such as Cate Blanchett and one-new off fashion pieces from top Australian designers like Sass and Bine. This line of clothing is called their Celebrity Threads line. They also have fashionable clothing collected from op-shops and vintage fashion stores from all across Australia. All the items are sold at bargain prices and every cent is donated to fund the work of Red Cross. Buying trendy clothes to bump up your wardrobe for a cause is definitely the way to go. Red Threads should be everyone's number one vintage shop!

Vinnies thrift store at Neutral Bay (known in the local vernacular as an "Op Shop" or opportunity…read moreshop) has a great range of some nice designer-type threads. Similarly to the Vinnies at Bondi Beach, they know their labels so although it's entirely feasible that you could find a Diane Von Furstenburg dress there (I did), you can expect to pay around $80 for it (I didn't). They colour code the racks, as seems to be standard Vinnies procedure now, had some great shoes here, and hilariously loads of the World Youth Day backpacks that you could not walk a metre without spying a few years ago... so I guess there are a lot of fickle pilgrims in the Neutral Bay area.

Vinnies - a Sydney institution. Well it may actually be an Aussie institution but the shops around…read moreSydney have become almost iconic. Vinnies is actually a charity - St Vincent De Paul, which does lots of great things to support people in the community who need it. Their stores are a well put together collection of clothes, homewares, toys, even furniture that people have donated. Not only does Vinnies provide a valuable service it is also a vintage shoppers dream - there are racks upon racks to sort through here to find the perfect treasure which usually won't cost you any more than $10.

If you want to pick up a bargain AND do some good, pop in to this Bondi op shop. Open Thursday to…read moreSaturday from 9am to 3pm, you'll find it hidden away in a cute church about 15 minutes' walk from Bondi Beach. The funds raised from your purchases help run a meals program for the homeless and disadvantaged, as well as women suffering abuse, through the Norman Andrew's House and Magnolia Hearing Centre. There are things crammed everywhere, so be prepared to sort through piles of rubbish to get to the good stuff. From scarves and belts to toys, clothes and homewares, the chances are you'll probably walk out with something completely random you never thought you needed. There are usually some quirky little vases and the clothes tend to be in fairly good condition compared to other op shops. It's run by a bunch of sweet volunteers, so stop and have a natter if you've got the time.