You buy new appliances. The people from the store deliver them and, if you want, they will take your old appliances away. Do you have them taken away, or do you do something else with them? That's what we asked ourselves recently. Our old appliances were still useful, but they were old and had come with the house when we bought it. We decided to find out if anyone else could use them.
We called St. Vincent dePaul and Habitat for Humanity. They both said they could use them. So, when the installers brought the new ones, we had them leave the old ones in the garage. We asked the installers what the store does with the old appliances. They told us the old appliances are taken to the junkyard, because they don't want the competition of the used appliances on the market. We asked them how many people keep the old appliances. They said only about one percent, and usually to give them to grown children who are moving into their own houses. I was surprised that today's grown children would take old, used appliances. If you watch HGTV, they all want everything bright and new, nothing "outdated".
Anyway, Habitat for Humanity is coming to pick up the appliances today. They have something they call ReStore where they sell or donate appliances that people with few resources need. I am glad they are going there instead of a junkyard.
5 comments:
Good for you. I use freecycle - started up in Texas, I believe - which aims to reduce landfill, and so far I've had almost everything I've ever offered taken promptly. The world is full of thrifty and/or hard-up people who need all the help they can get.
Have a look: www.freecycle.org
I will look it up right now... thank you, Rachel.
What a great idea Judy ... helping Habitat helping others. I have both donated to /purchased from my local Habitat ReStore.
I really enjoy your blog. I guess I'm a lurker as I don't often make comments, just quietly read from my corner in Prince Edward Island.
BTW - your new kitchen looks wonderful :)
Have a great day.
I'm so happy to have you here, Eunice. Thank you for your comments from Prince Edward Island.
I hope you have a great day, too!
Hi, Judy - found you through Rachel's sidebar. Good for you for donating your appliances. We have ReStores in the Chicago area, and it is a wonderful service in every way. We donated materials removed from our house when we remodeled rather than have them hit the dumpster.
One reason old refrigerators get recycled instead of re-used or sold is because old ones are so much less energy-efficient than new ones. Our electric utility will pay you to let them come take your old fridge away, and then they recycle the materials and responsibly remove/dispose of the refrigerant.
I use Freecycle, too, as Rachel recommended - it's a great idea to keep stuff out of landfill and get it into someone's hands who will love it.
Post a Comment