(Blog) Free Stuff

I am a Family Life Specialist with Iowa State University Extension and I am housed in the Linn County office right here in Marion. I have a personal commitment to live lighter and healthier on this earth and I am always seeking new ways to do that within the context of my family and community. 

Once again, we replaced a toilet and had to smash the old one and send it to the landfill – ouch! No one wants an old toilet clean or not. I checked with the local reclaimed construction resale shop and they weren’t taking toilets. I wanted to put it out on the curb and see if someone would pick it up but my husband said "no way."  

So, after some casual inquiries to my hairdresser, a neighbor who has two properties and my kids who all said "no thank you," to the landfill it went. I don’t anticipate having any more toilets to get rid of but I do have some other stuff that I can’t take to Goodwill or a consignment shop.

www.Freecycle.org is a good way to find what you need and share what you no longer need with others without exchanging money. My kids have offered and received stuff this way and they say it is easy to do. I joined a local group yesterday and within hours had found a new home for a lonely pair of ice skates!  This is FUN!

What do you have to offer the larger community? What do you need from the larger community?

Kristi Cooper
ISU Linn County Extension and Outreach Family Life Specialist