why is doing the right thing so hard?
Posted: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 by tif in Labels: gadgets, recycle, shoes
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Trying to be green is not as easy as it sounds, nor is it as black/white as it appears. Everything has trade-offs and it makes my head spin trying to sort through all the mess. I've spent countless hours on google just trying to figure out how to properly dispose of something; and I mean REALLY dispose of it, not repurpose it or make it into something else, I mean make it go away. I barely have time to sort through my mail and take up my knitting without worrying about how to repurpose an old pair of pumps into a stylish doorstop or new necklace holder. I'm all for reuse but sometimes you just don't want to reuse it (either because it's too much effort/time or you just don't the reused thing); so what the hell do you do with it then?
What do you do when Goodwill refuses to take it? As I pare down my belongings to allow myself to breathe in a SF apartment I will continue to post about what the hell I do end up doing with all those impossibles; and I mean REALLY what to do with them. Here's a couple thus far...
The basics:
Craigslist and Freecycle - (CL has a free area) both are great places to post the bulk of your items and I always try here first as it's the easiest and usually does the trick. You'd be surprised what people will take; but there are still things you will either not be able to post or can't find a home for.
Shoes:
Nike's Reuse a Shoe is a cool program and I've seen it posted all over the internet, a great place to take your ATHLETIC shoes but there leaves a gap for every other piece of foot-ware on the planet.
Sole4Souls is another good program that will take ANY type of shoe. Two downsides, the drop-off locations aren't so good, you'll probably have to mail them. The other, they only want gently worn (if it's questionable, send it along).
Etsy was a surprise. Apparently, there's a spot called Alchmey where you can post what you have and others can make you offers to repurpose that object for you. It's a nifty idea if you aren't the crafty sort.
Still no luck as to what to do with those shoes that are totally unusable and not tennis shoes...
Gadgets:
Gazelle - recycle your electronics and maybe even get some cash for them. I used them to take my super old iBook and got $190 for it!