The Zen of Craigslist

Before we moved into our house, the former owner met with us and told us about the maintenance schedule, etc for his baby - the house. He is a very sweet and organized man. He gave us all the old manuals and even the empty box for the humidifier filter, so that we could continue to care for the house the way that he had. He was also kind enough to leave us all the touch up paint too, in case we needed it after our rough move. Let me remind you that the house was painted in a pallet of pinks and mint greens. So, we really didn't need that paint, but I just didn't have the heart to tell him so. More than one year later after repainting, the paint is still in the basement. I have to get rid of it, and all the other crap that is clogging our small basement. I have Greensavers coming in to insulate next week, and they need access to the headers, and everything in my neatly organized basement has to be moved.

I was going to call the Toxics Taxi to take away the paint. But then I thought, maybe somebody could us it. I woke up early and went to the basement with my digital camera and started to photograph and measure all the junk. Within minutes, I had these items posted on Craigslist, under the free section. I had an old modem, an old fax machine, part of the old security system left behind, a light fixture, a burgundy mini-blind... the list goes on and on. The replies poured in almost instantly. Tons of people wanted my junk!!! I spent the day communicating with this online recycling community, arranging pickups for all my unwanted stuff. Before I knew it, the basement had some room to spare. People were happy with their items, and I was happy not to have a yard sale.

Thank you Craig, whoever you are! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Don't send something to landfill just because you're done with it. There are tons of people who will gladly take it off your hands. My friend Chris thinks that there should be a film about Craigslist, and I see that there already is!!