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Vox Pop: Converting clutter from trash to treasure

Submitted by Merlin on July 4, 2007 - 6:01am.

Quick way to dispose of lots of stuff? | Ask MetaFilter

Wow, talk about good timing.

I’ve noticed in comments on this week’s clutter posts that there’s a lot of interest from you all in the away part of “throw away” – people seem to have a lot of ideas on the most interesting, charitable, creative, and environmentally-responsible routes for converting your own trash into someone else’s treasure.

So far we (and that AskMe thread) have covered:

  • Recycling
  • Goodwill (and similar charities)
  • 1-800-GOT-JUNK (and similar services)
  • Craigslist (and other classified avenues)
  • eBay (and other online sales ideas)
  • Freecycle
  • Putting it on the street with a “Free” sign

What’s your creative solution? Let’s try to avoid names of specific businesses and charities except inasmuch as they offer a truly creative and non-obvious solution to reuse or recycling. What’s the most interesting way you’ve cleared your crap while doing some good? Have you got any suggestions that are clever and convenient?

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@julia If you call a hauler,...

Submitted by Merlin on July 4, 2007 - 2:30pm.

@julia

If you call a hauler, they’ll probably ask you what kind of stuff you have (like: cardboard vs. car batteries vs. scrap wood, etc.), and approximately how much stuff you have. Like I said to Sarah, they’ll probably punt on specifics, but you should def, ask about their minimum charge – just in case it turns out you don’t have enough stuff to make it worth their while, they may still have, say, a $100 minimum or what have you.

The nice part about a good hauler is it’s totally hands-off. They’ll parachute in, the stuff disappears, and you aren’t staring at it any more.