Reduce, Reuse, Recycle the Clutter
Have you ever noticed in your neighborhood that when someone cleans out their cluttered basement or moves out, a large mound of unwanted furniture, appliances and stuffed animals winds up on the curb? After being picked through by neighbors the pile usually sits around, rainwater-logged and tattered, for long after it probably should. Their intentions are probably meant for curb side trash pick-up, but what ever happened to reusing something?
Instead of kicking something to the curb, so to speak, it’s time to start being resourceful and helping out the local collection agency or the neighborhood college kid. You can reupholster a couch or wash that dust ball stuffed bear to prepare your things for a second life. If you really get into it, you can post your items on websites such as Craigslist or Freecycle, which are like a giant bulletin board to post ideas, things you want to sell or give away, or look for something specific, such as a room to rent or tickets to a sold out concert.
Recently, my house decided to “get rid” of one of our living room couches. Instead of spending money to have it hauled away or spending the time and fuel to pitch it into a landfill, we decided on something better - recycling. A few minutes to post on Craig’s List, with the condition that the couch be picked up, and a day later we know our couch has found a happy home.
The next time you’re cleaning out that basement or spare room, remember that recycling isn’t just for mixed paper and aluminum cans. You can recycle and reuse furniture too!
*Freecycle groups require signing up for a Yahoo Group, but it’s worth the trouble!
September 12th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Here you kind find Freecycle groups all over the world:
Freecycle
September 12th, 2006 at 2:19 pm
Great ideas! And don’t forget the old fashiond yard sales too. If it can’t be sold or given away on Freecycle or Craigslist (which are great, BTW!) books can go to the library and just about everything else can go to Goodwill or some other donation service. I’ve even found that used packaging material (those annoying foam “peanuts” or bubble wrap) can be “donated” to some stores such as Mailboxes Etc. or the like.
September 16th, 2006 at 11:04 am
My church (Cedar Ridge Community Church) maintains a classified email list for members which is extensively used for this purpose. More churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, community groups, etc. could do this for their members.