Getting rid of stuff

When it comes to disposing of stuff, there are three options.  Sell, give away, or trash.  We try very hard to stick to the first two categories.  For donations, I like to try to give to specific organizations rather than just dumping everything at Goodwill for them to sort through.

This time around, ladies' clothing went to House of Ruth and books and office supplies like old binders and legal pads went to the Baltimore Book Bank.

The rest of our giveaway items went out via Freecycle.  I assume that nobody goes to Goodwill to try to buy a pair of skis, but I had two offers on an old pair that we were getting rid of.  Freecycle is great because the person comes to your house to pick things up.  It's also a great way to dispose of things like half-used personal items and toiletries, which cannot be donated but shouldn't necessarily be trashed.

The biggest hurdle this time around was the three CRT TVs that we were stuck disposing of.  One came with the apartment and is going to be a bear to move.  All function perfectly and have working remotes, but almost nobody will take donations of them.  I have listed them on Craigslist and Freecycle for free, but have no offers.  It bothers me to take them to electronics recycling, since they still work, but at this point, we don't have other options and we need to get them out of the old place.

As for trash items, most everything just goes out for garbage or recycling, but we take all of our electronics to electronics recycling and all of our grocery bags to the local grocery store, which has a bag recycling bin.  I didn't think this was a novel concept, but a friend asked me recently what was a good way to get rid of old plastic bags and had never seen a bag return at the grocery store.

Overall, this move has seen at least six bags of clothes, two bags of shoes, and several boxes of stuff go out of our apartment and into homes where they will be useful and hopefully get a new life.  As we continue with the unpacking, we are already starting another donations box for items that don't have a home or a use in our new space.