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| Take this fiddle leaf tree....please! |
by Peggy Robin
It’s hard to find the good in
The Time of Coronavirus, but one thing I’ve noticed is that people are doing a
LOT of housecleaning. And now more than ever, instead of trashing their unwanted
goods, they are giving them away.
The explosion of the #free
hashtag on the CP listserv started a few weeks before the April 1 official start of the
emergency stay-at-home order. In twenty-plus years of moderating the
listserv, I’ve never seen anything like it. Not just the quantity of goods
given away, but the quality! We used to get a lot of heavy, old-style TVs –
hard to find anyone who'd want them. And printers….people used to post: “It jams,
but if you're good with electronics, maybe you could fix it.” That’s not
really a generous act – it’s more like a
way to get someone to remove your old junk for free. We all know it’s likely to be cheaper
to buy a brand new printer than to restock an old one with an ink cartridge – that's assuming, of course that you can get it unjammed.
But there’s been very little of
that in the giveaway boom still underway. The last time a printer was donated
(May 20), it was not only working fine, but it did high quality photo printing, too.
And someone else gave away a printer/scanner/copier. Nothing wrong with that one,
either.
I just made a quick survey of
everything posted under the hashtag #free since the last week of March (that's when I first noticed the big upswing in giveaways). Just
take a look at the bonanza of stuff!
Furniture
Easy chair; dining table; Ikea
shelves; glass shelves; desks (at least two); end tables; clothing rack; sleep
sofa; rocking chair; chest of drawers
Beds and Bedding
Loft bunk bed; king bed
frame; full bed complete with headboard, mattress, and box spring; twin
mattress; trundle bed; twin XL sheets; memory-foam mattress topper; 4-poster
queen bed frame
Baby/Toddler/Children’s
Items
Bags of baby items; 6-9 month
clothing; play table; children’s chairs; wooden blocks; Fisher-Price toys; bags
of Beanie Babies; doll furniture; puzzles & board games; crib mobile; umbrella stroller; Citi-mini stroller; Bob
jogger; set of baby monitors; baby beach tent
Yard/Landscaping
Flagstones; a whole
irrigation system; firewood; irises; fiddle leaf tree (needs care); mature
holly bushes; hanging plant pots; cachepots; oregano plants; gas powered lawn
mower (could use some work); push mower; rain barrel; fish for a fish pond
Office Supplies and Office
Furniture
Three filing cabinets; office
desk chair; boxes of office supplies; photo paper; toner cartridges; more boxes
of office supplies
Electronics & Appliances
TVs; Blu-ray disc player; VHS
player; turntable; lamps; toaster; laptop; 2 computer monitors; Xbox 360;
Playstation 3; photo printer; printer/scanner/fax/copier combo; Technics
speakers;
Artwork, Books, Records
& Media
Framed original art;
foam-core mounted art; framed art posters; books and books galore; magazines; vinyl records;
CDs and CD racks; VHS tapes (and yes, someone wanted them!)
Pet Stuff
Dog food; cat food;
specialized pet food; dog bed; dog crate; faux sheepskin for dog bed; kitty
litter
Sports/Play Equipment
Chin-up bar; cross country skis;
girl's bike; kid's bike with training wheels; child bike seat; bike rack; toddler
slide; sandbox with cover; Little Tikes playset; golf clubs (left-handed set);
bocce balls; hula hoops; sled; foosball table; air hockey table; old tent (good
for play, not camping)
Miscellaneous
Subway tiles; walker; mylar
balloons; piano music; hearing aid batteries; luggage; rugs; bankers boxes; pleated
air filters; fabric remnants & sequins; crafting supplies; microwave
popcorn popper; juicer; knife block with knives; stick vacuum; styrofoam coolers, reusable
ice packs; Subaru floor mats; vases galore; all sorts of picture frames; boxes
of kitchen supplies; crockpot; muffin tins; Rubbermaid garbage cans; moving boxes and
packing supplies out the wazoo!
If you’ve been inspired by
any of the great giveaways above and are thinking you will do likewise and
clear out some things, what I’m about to say may surprise you: You may not want
to give them to random claimants on the listserv. Just yesterday, someone
proposed a wonderful alternative: If you’ve got good quality clothing and household
items, ask the Department of Human Services if they can use them at any of
their short-term family residence buildings. A new one, called The Brooks, opened up in Ward Three just a couple of months ago. Here’s the contact information for the DHS
official who can follow-up and arrange for a pickup of your items, if they fit
the bill:
Scott Sibley, DHS
Cell: 202-313-8758
Office: 202-545-3168
scott.sibley@dc.gov
[scott.sibley @ dc dot gov]
What about things that you’re
not sure are wanted anywhere? Like some of the items listed above: the sequins,
for example, or the mylar balloons. What about those bocce balls? Or the “faux
sheepskin” for a dog bed? (Is it true that a Cleveland Park dog will only sleep
on a REAL sheepskin bed?) Want to find out if there’s a home out there for your
unusual giveaway item? Just send it to clevelandpark@groups.io
– and be sure to give it the hashtag #free. You’ll soon find out!
------------------------
Still Life with Robin is
published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All Life Is Local on Saturdays.
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