A NASA space costume for Halloween. Check! A lampshade. Check! Two faux fir trees in matching urns. Check and check!
These are some of the things I’ve given away to members of my local But Nothing page. For the uninitiated, the group on Facebook is part of a project for people to give away — and receive — unwanted items.
It’s based on the principle of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and helps reduce landfills.
My family is not quite at a hoarder level, but we have enough junk to make us a borderline case. The garage is packed with everything from ski gear we never use to outsize Christmas decorations that no one likes anymore.
There is a bike that is too small for the kids and boxes full of books. Our attic has a variety of plastic bins of clothes that no longer fit and a set of outdated silverware my husband inherited from a cousin.
Slowly and surely, I’m offloading the stuff after posting photos of each item on Buy Nothing. Nine times out of them, at least one or two people will type the magic word “interested” in the thread.
Some things get more attention than others
I had a record 85 bids on some stainless steel shelves but no takers for a set of beige coffee mugs. It’s disappointing when nobody comments under a post — “Have I got bad taste?” I’ll ask myself — or the person who “won” the free auction flakes and doesn’t show up as promised.
I’ve learned that the trick is to pick someone in the group you already know (we live in a small town) or set a deadline of three or four days for the pick-up.
It’s better to post things that tally with the season. Nobody wanted my pre-lit holiday reindeer for the lawn in March, but I just donated a Halloween tree with bendy branches to someone hosting a party.
I’m not practical enough to sort and select items from one messy room at a time. Instead, I’ll chance upon something I no longer need and then post it online.
A professional declutterer would probably advise me to discard everything in one fell swoop, but I prefer to do it at my own pace. I also get a sense of satisfaction from gifting things to individuals.
I rarely get to meet the claimant who messaged for my address because it’s easier to leave stuff outside on the steps. But I’ve got to know a public school teacher who often comes to take books and nearly new toys.
The nicest thing happened when a woman picked up an item and messaged me about my bright yellow front door. She wanted to know the exact shade to paint her door the same.
I have to stop the urge to get other people’s stuff
Until recently, I occasionally saw something on Buy Nothing and expressed interest. Last year, I was given a beautiful upright piano after posting an appeal.
Still, taking other people’s stuff is counter-productive, so much so that I’ve resisted the urge for the last few months. I’ve learned that it’s dangerous to make an impulse “bid” only to be selected and regret the decision afterward.
This summer, I landed a pea-green sofa that the rest of my family hated. Luckily, I re-gifted it on the page, and it’s safely installed in the brightly-colored office of a child psychiatrist. “Everyone loves it,” she wrote in a message with a photo of the couch in situ.
I now ask myself, “Do we really need that?” when I see something I like. It helps that most of the quality things that catch my eye draw interest from other members, and I’d be unlikely to be chosen.
My decluttering method is hardly Marie Kondo’s, but it works for me. Meanwhile, does anyone want two four-foot vases that were a pandemic buy from HomeGoods?
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