Freecycle
I've discovered the joy of Freecycle. Freecycle is a nationwide network of little local groups where you can post things that you want to give away, and then anyone who is interested in your stuff can offer to make private arrangements for pick up.
We are saving things up for a garage sale in the spring, but there are some things that are just not worth hanging onto either because of their size and bulk or in a few cases, because they have a select audience. I've already gotten rid of Xena Season 1-6 on VHS, a weight bench with mismatched weights, and the toneau cover for my Toyota Rav4 which I forgot about when I sold the Rav last April. Next on the list is a huge box of cassettes, huge box of VHS tapes, and a VCR. I really hope those go, but if they don't, it's a heck of a lot easier now to stick them out on the curb for garbage day since we've already sorted them, boxed them up and let go of them psychologically. Freecycle is great because we HATE throwing away useful things, and this means that either our stuff finds a home with someone else who wants it *OR* the lack of response indicates that no one else wants that crap either, and we can chuck it in good conscience. So far the two things we've had no response for were a spare tire, which I'll hang on to anyway, and our old entertainment stand, which will probably go out to the curb tomorrow.
It's also interesting to see what people get post to rid of; I've think I've already seen it all. A bottle of lotion someone didn't care of the smell of. A sectional couch that appeared to be in great condition. A package of paper plates, or a few 2 liters of soda left over from a party. A chest freezer. A cat that needs a new home. There are some very basic ground rules, like you can't Freecycle anything illegal, but other than that, if people have it to part with, they'll post it. For the good stuff, the trick seems to be that you have to be FAST. I got seven responses to the weight bench, and three for the Xena tapes on VHS. Heck, I didn't know if anyone still used VHS.
We still have a boatload worth of things in the garage, but we've managed to get it to a point where we can, like, walk around in there. That's worth a lot all by itself.
We are saving things up for a garage sale in the spring, but there are some things that are just not worth hanging onto either because of their size and bulk or in a few cases, because they have a select audience. I've already gotten rid of Xena Season 1-6 on VHS, a weight bench with mismatched weights, and the toneau cover for my Toyota Rav4 which I forgot about when I sold the Rav last April. Next on the list is a huge box of cassettes, huge box of VHS tapes, and a VCR. I really hope those go, but if they don't, it's a heck of a lot easier now to stick them out on the curb for garbage day since we've already sorted them, boxed them up and let go of them psychologically. Freecycle is great because we HATE throwing away useful things, and this means that either our stuff finds a home with someone else who wants it *OR* the lack of response indicates that no one else wants that crap either, and we can chuck it in good conscience. So far the two things we've had no response for were a spare tire, which I'll hang on to anyway, and our old entertainment stand, which will probably go out to the curb tomorrow.
It's also interesting to see what people get post to rid of; I've think I've already seen it all. A bottle of lotion someone didn't care of the smell of. A sectional couch that appeared to be in great condition. A package of paper plates, or a few 2 liters of soda left over from a party. A chest freezer. A cat that needs a new home. There are some very basic ground rules, like you can't Freecycle anything illegal, but other than that, if people have it to part with, they'll post it. For the good stuff, the trick seems to be that you have to be FAST. I got seven responses to the weight bench, and three for the Xena tapes on VHS. Heck, I didn't know if anyone still used VHS.
We still have a boatload worth of things in the garage, but we've managed to get it to a point where we can, like, walk around in there. That's worth a lot all by itself.
posted by Erica at
10:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home