In my early 20s, I used to brag that all of my possessions fit in the back of a station wagon. That statistic has changed over the years, and as someone who has moved 8 times within 3 states in the last 13 years, I am well aware of the burden of having too much stuff.
Recently, I moved into a new apartment with my BF. Although the majority of the furniture came from my place, we both brought with us a lot of stuff. A lot.
While we could have found an even bigger apartment (with more storage space!) to hold all of this stuff, I was hoping to find a place that was just big enough, conveniently located, affordable and that would force us to live simply, efficiently and definitely with less stuff. (Not sure this was a consciously shared agenda, although he agrees ‘less is more.’)
My (supposed) rule of thumb has been only keep what I actually use within a given year. My last apartment, which was quite spacious, helped me to break that rule; I acquired way too much furniture for one person, and now I have to scale back down. WAY down.
Over the last two days, I have given away a table and a stereo via Boston Freecycle. (The stereo was one that I had received from another Freecycler in Brooklyn, so passing this one on to someone else is doubly satisfying.) The weekend before, I gave away another table, a TV cart, a barely used mattress topper and some redundant kitchen utensils to a friend.
Previously, a different friend took my (spotless) old mattress to use in his new apartment. I brought many of the linens that fit that bed to the local Goodwill. Recently, I also sold a bedframe, an area rug and two wooden benches on Craigslist. Before I made the move, I gave away a desk, my TV and several suits and dresses that I no longer wore.
One would think that with all of that purging I would be in pretty good shape. Close, but not there yet. This process is and a pain in the neck, but I am feeling like I can breathe a bit easier each day as a result of it.
In addition to the satisfaction of gaining more living space and order, it has been really gratifying to help out others in this small way during such a hard economic time.
There are a lot of ways one could look at the Freecycler-Recipient relationship, but I prefer to look at it as a function of community and humanity. Rarely do we get to make a positive impact on a stranger; this is one tiny way to do that.
I encourage you to use Freecycle in your neighborhood or city. By all means, if you can sell your unwanted possessions on Craigslist or eBay, do, but if you can’t recycle them!
I totally Freecycle! Discovered it about a year ago when I got disheartened that Craigslist lost it’s community feel and became oddly profitable in a dishonest way. So Freecycle has been my only method of getting rid. While I still like Salvation Army and such, there is something incredibly human about handing off your own stuff to an actual recipient.
Totally. And, pretty much every time I have given something to someone, they have written me a thank you email afterward. Who says that decency is dead?
Love freecycle, the goal is great but I also try to make a point of donating to our local Survival center. I stopped with the Salvation Army when I walked in and saw a price tag of 49.99 on a mans denim jacket. Is that really necessary on something that was donated to them? Love your Blog!