I am buying a house, and moving into it next month. How will I avoid purchasing new items? I haven’t yet decided. A used hot water heater is not likely to be as energy efficient as a new one. And what if I want to install a garbage disposal? A composter for the back yard? I suppose you can buy almost anything used but how energy efficient will it be, how well will it work and how will it look in my new home? And how much time will I have to spend to find these items?
Here’s another thought. Say I find a bookshelf or futon on Craig’s list. How do I pick it up? I drive a very small car and can probably accommodate a small chair at most. There are only so many favors you can ask friends with trucks. And renting a truck is a huge hassle. I suppose some of these items can be disassembled but how would this compare to buying something new that comes in a flat box, packed with special assembly tools? Or to getting it delivered from the store to my doorstep?
I will ponder these things in the coming month. In the meantime, I’ll peruse these recycle/freecycle sites, which allow people to share free stuff with others. It’s amazing what you see for free on these sites… TVs, a digital camera, refrigerators, and other large and small items. I am finding more and more evidence of a growing community that cares about overflowing landfills and all the waste that many people don’t think twice about. Here’s two Web sites, the first is actually a Yahoo group that you must join to get access to (the link is to a local Ann Arbor Web site). The second is an international freecycle organization with many local branches in the U.S.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnnArbor_eCycle/
http://www.freecycle.org/
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