Garbage giveaways

It’s the Christmas season and I think it’s time to add another focus to this blog.

I’ve been making an increased effort since I restarted this blog in September to find good homes for some of the things I’ve found in the trash. I’ve been doing this for a while but I only usually mention it in passing. I feel it’s time to make these “garbage giveaways” a greater focus of my blog.

Some of the things I give away need repairs, and if put in the right hands could be of use. I guess a good example is the speakers I found last week. A friend of the owner told me they just needed a wiring fix. I have decent speakers and am far from an expert on wiring so I put them up on the Craigslist free section. Within an hour I had two responses and the speakers were gone by that evening.

Another example is this washer motor. I had no idea what condition it was in but I figured I’d try to give it away (despite the doubts of my roommates). It ended up being picked up by an engineering student who wanted to use it as a sort of study aid.

But sometimes it’s just about knick-knacky things that certain types of people will love. Like this plaster bust, or these Buddha candle holders.

Or maybe it’s something that’s useful for day-to-day life, like this cast iron pan.

Or maybe it’s something sort of mundane that can be turned into cool art and crafts by an individual with a vision for it. A great example are these salt shakers.

In the end I enjoy giving things to people. I like to think it makes a difference, even if just a small one, to their overall well-being and happiness, especially in the Christmas season. I also like reducing waste and reducing consumption by saving these things that were otherwise destined to be trash.

However, my biggest goal with this is to connect the things thrown out to the people who can (and would like to) make use of them. I feel that a lot of useful things are thrown out because people don’t know that someone might love to have it.

So, from now on I’ll making a bigger note of the things I give away. I think I’ll add the things given away as a footnote to my usual posts and also create a page up top with pictures of the things.

I hope you enjoy it!