Freecycle and 1-800-JUNK-USA

Spring has arrived, and it's time to start cleaning.

eBay is always an option for stuff we feel could fetch enough $$ to make it worth the hassle of posting (and monitoring e-mails and shipping...).  And we've always had the local charities (e.g., Salvation Army).

But what's a body adverse to excessive waste to do when unloved items aren't worth the eBay hassle?  Enter Freecycle.  You post a note, such as "OFFER: Computer monitor."  Within a few hours e-mails come in from interested parties.  Voila, the excess computer monitor is slated for a new home.  [I've heard Craig's List can function in this manner as well, but the one item I've posted there never moved...]

And for those items we can't even give away, there are now several options for getting rid of things.  I recently checked out "College Hunks Hauling Junk" (www.1800junkusa.com).  They come, haul away what you tell them to, and dispose of the 'junk' in the appropriate manner.  Up to 60% of the stuff they haul away gets recycled.  That's cool.  If your junk fills their 11' x 8' x 5' dumpster, you could pay upwards of $600.  But they provide a free estimate, and the charge could be as low as $110 (up to 1/8 the dumpster - that's as much as 50 cubic feet of junk removed from your home).  I know from past experience that even if I had a truck and the time and muscle to do it myself, I'd still have to fork over a fair amount if I take it to the county dump myself.

Now to figure out how to entice the rest of the family to go along with my scheme to rid the house of the detritus that reduces our functional living area by 30%...