Because of my pending interstate move, I spent some time yesterday going through my old electronic stuff.  I knew I had a few things I wanted to get rid of, so I got it all together.  Well, the next problem was what to do with it.  I knew I didn't just want to toss it out; not only would that be bad for the environment, but some of the stuff still works.  So anyhoo, I rattled around the internet for a bit, trying to find the best way to get rid of it.

Turns out, most orgs don't want my old electronic stuff any more than I do, so I thought maybe I could recycle.  Dell has a decent recycling program (you basically pay $10 for it), but you have to package it all up and ship it via DHL.  Not bad, but still involves cost and trouble.

I finally stumbled across freecycle.org.  It's basically a bunch of Yahoo groups, each specific to a particular area.  You can post your offer of free stuff on it, and folks will get back to you about it.  I thought, hey, this could work.  Pretty easy--just post a simple message.  So I did that, and within 10 minutes of the post being approved, I had five emails in my inbox from people wanting it.  I just picked the first that got there, emailed them, and they're picking the stuff up today. 

Totally awesome!  And it's not just for electronics--virtually anything you want to find a new home for (except for you or your children) can be offered there.  Now I'm just trying to figure out what else I can foist off on (err.. give away to) other people. :)  I thought it was cool enough that I wanted to spread the word; it's a great way to keep the land fills empty and potentially help others in the process.  You know how the old saying goes: "one man's trash is another's treasure," and this organization is the perfect proof of that.  So be green for free and go to freecycle.org to pass along your old stuff to others who really want it!