Anyway, here's this week's tip. This applies if you live in a place where there's a central dumpster where people dump their garbage: When you take out the garbage, keep your eyes open for things that might not really be garbage but perhaps someone was just trying to get rid of the item without it occurring to them that maybe someone else could use it. If you find something useful, go ahead and take it home! For example, yesterday I "rescued" a chair that turned out to be still in decent condition, and comfortable, too. I recommend cleaning such finds before using them, as you don't know where they've been....If you find something that could be useful for someone but not you, you can "rescue" it anyway and donate it to Goodwill or another organization of your preference that takes such things. (Another idea is to try putting it up for sale, say on Craigslist or eBay, but keep in mind that you can't always be confident that you can accurately describe the condition of the item and again, you have no idea where it's been....) That way you can help the environment while simultaneously helping an organization and also someone who could use the item in question! :)
If you see that there's an ongoing problem of people leaving perfectly good items, you might want to call the problem to the attention of your building/apartment complex manager (or whoever else is in charge). I called mine today and left a message with the following ideas: 1. They could write a notice so people are aware that there's a Goodwill nearby. (That applies to my situation; you could customize this for your own situation.) Have them point out that other people might be able to make use of the item, even if the current owner is done with it. 2. They could designate a place, apart from the dumpster(s), where people could leave stuff they don't want that's still good, and people could come and take what they want. I didn't get a response yet but at least I tried.
