People Before Profits

Many of us are familiar with the suburban junk pile, strategically placed at the curb with a FREE sign placed on top of the mess. All sorts of items reach this orphanage for the once-loved but nowuseless: basketball hoops, bed frames, microwaves, televisions, and pieces of furniture.

These “free piles” don’t always work the way we want them to, and sometimes we’re at a loss for options other than the dumpster. When planning to get rid of stuff, there are three options: Sell,give, or scrap.

When selling possessions, we’re no longer limited to yard sales, pawn shops, swap meets, and newspaper classifieds. We now have Internet resources like eBay, the online auction site; Amazon, whose online Marketplace makes selling a much easier task; and Craig’s List, a newer site that collects online classifieds to make local sales more efficient.

Resources

Charities like Goodwill and the Salvation Army and their donation centers offer another good way to get rid of unwanted odds and ends. You also can donate larger items like cars, furniture, and some appliances, if you contact the right agencies. Many donations are tax-deductible, so donating can be a win-win situation.

If you can’t sell or donate your items, you can try free giveaways on Freecycle or craigslist. You can hire scrapping services like 1-800-GOT-JUNK to get rid of items for you. They will handle most of the labor, including
removal and cleanup. If you’d rather do it yourself, contact a local dumpster rental agency and toss your junk on your own.

Amazon.com

freecycle.org

goodwill.org

1-800-GOT-JUNK

craigslist.com

ebay.com

salvationarmyusa.org

junk-yard.org