Sweating the small (and big) stuff
Posted on Saturday, March 8, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/219083/
There arrives a time in most of our lives when we realize we have too much stuff. Perhaps the awakening event is having to park a new car in the driveway because there’s too much stuff in the garage. It could be the “avalanche danger” sign posted on closet doors, or that the last guests to use the spare bedroom couldn’t find their way out for two days. People who simply refuse to part with any of their stuff probably need to Google a combination of the terms “hoarders” and “professional help.” But if it’s only inertia that’s holding you back, there are other options. One solution that occurs to most of us at one time or another is to buy a bigger house. This rarely works. Six months after moving
into bigger digs, chances are you’ll again be parking the car in the driveway. So for those motivated to do a Stalin-like purge of attics, garages, closets, spare rooms and every place else we stuff the stuff we never use, here are some ways to shed some stuff that do not involve arson.
GIVE IT AWAY It’s not hard to give stuff away. Here are some organizations that accept donations of serviceable stuff. It’s by no means a complete list. Salvation Army: This organization has a truck that will pick up large furniture and appliances in central Arkansas, including beds (no torn or stained mattresses, please ). Call (501 ) 664-1577 to arrange a pickup. Smaller stuff can be dropped off at the Salvation Army thrift store at 6501 Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock or at the group’s headquarters at 1111 W. Markham St. in Little Rock.
Wanda Hobby, manager of the Geyer Springs store, says there is always demand for “gently used clothing,” household items, books, working electronic goods and knickknacks. No computers, built-in-style appliances or magazines are accepted. Friends of Central Arkansas Libraries: Called FOCAL, this group accepts all books, no questions asked. Books can be dropped off at any branch library. Carrie Snodgrass, media liaison for the Central Arkansas Library System, says some of the books are sold in the River Market Books & Gifts store in the Cox Creative Center in downtown Little Rock. Many of the books are stored — about 100, 000 are patiently awaiting eyeballs — until the group holds one of its periodic fire sales when paperbacks sell for 50 cents and hardbacks for a dollar. Careful: Attending the next sale in July could lead you to acquire more stuff.
Goodwill: This charitable group doesn’t pick up but will accept donations at its numerous stores in the region. Johnnie Taylor, executive director of Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, says the stores do not accept large furniture and appliances. They take books, magazines, household goods, small wood furniture and electronic items. Taylor says there is always a demand for good men’s clothing and shoes. To find a store near you, go to www. goodwill. org and click on the store-locator prompt. Freecycle: This online enterprise seeks to match unwanted stuff with people who can use it. There are numerous chapters in Arkansas. Go to freecycle. org and click your way to the Arkansas sites.
The carefully moderated Little Rock Metro group has more than 5, 000 members. Just about anything can be given away (it’s a child-friendly site that bans guns, pornography and alcohol ). Recent offerings ranged from a chaise lounge to scrap aluminum. The process is designed to keep the giver in control. If you’re really having difficulty parting with your stuff, you could possibly negotiate visitation rights with the taker.
The Arc: This organization that works on behalf of people with mental and developmental disabilities will pick up stuff. Besides making regular sweeps through neighborhoods throughout the region — from Morrilton to Hot Springs, according to general manager Duane Rinehart — arrangements can be made to pick up larger items by calling (501 ) 375-7770. Useful stuff includes small appliances and other electronic items, household goods and clothing. Not accepted are mattresses, box springs and large appliances. Donations not used by The Arc’s clients are sold at Savers thrift store. The store is currently at 2516 Cantrell Road in Little Rock, but will soon move to North Little Rock’s Park Hill area, into the building on John F. Kennedy Boulevard formerly occupied by a Big Lots.
Habitat for Humanity: This group’s ReStores are springing up around Arkansas. According to www. habitat. org / cd / env / restore. aspx, North Little Rock, Hot Springs, Fort Smith, Benton and Bentonville have ReStore outlets that sell donated construction supplies and household goods. Wes McFarland, manager of the Benton ReStore, 124 S. Market St., says he has two trucks available to collect stuff like furnishings, beds, appliances, used sinks, cabinets and other building materials and housewares. Stuff he can’t take: clothes, toys, computers and exercise gear. Sales proceeds go to build homes in Saline County, McFarland says. Call (501 ) 315-0011 to arrange pickup.
At the North Little Rock ReStore, 2657 Pike Ave., Manager Stephanie Brogdon says the store accepts “anything that would go to build or remodel a home.” Magazines, books and knickknacks are also welcome, she says, but not draperies, clothes, toys or linens. Call (501 ) 771-9494 to arrange pickup.
SELL IT Selling stuff involves advertising, negotiating, perhaps cleaning it, taking phone calls — all things that bring on inertia. Nevertheless, some stuff that you paid thousands of dollars for might still be worth a few hundred dollars, more than enough to get you back in the stuff-acquisition game. Put an ad in the newspaper: The classifieds are a thriving market for furniture, appliances, exercise and sports gear, and lots of other stuff. You want to get rid of it, right ? So price it to sell.
Sell stuff on eBay: If this sounds like too much of a hassle, use a middleman service like Richard Smith’s Snappy Auctions at 5811 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock. (There’s also a North Little Rock Snappy Auctions outlet at 2603 McCain Blvd. ) Clients drop off their stuff and Smith takes care of the rest — for a commission ranging from 18 percent to 38 percent of the sale price. “It’s a really good way to get rid of something that has some value,” he says. “You bring it in, and you’re basically done. I do the rest.” Smith says he has sold cars, collectibles, golf clubs, computers and thousands of other items. He and his staff can provide advice on the asking price. Go to www. snappyauctions. com for more information. Hold a garage sale: Better yet, go in with your neighbors and hold a multifamily garage sale. Price stuff to sell and buy some pepper spray to chase off all the people who show up before the sale looking to cherrypick the best stuff. And don’t buy any of your neighbors’ stuff.
THROW IT AWAY So nobody wants your stuff. Not even Mike Huckabee will take that Total Gym off your hands, the ingrate. Fortunately, a city sanitation department is like a family: Just as our families have to accept us, the city landfill has to take in the unwanted stuff in its jurisdiction. In Pulaski County, old computers, printers, televisions and other electronic goods, which are likely to make up part of your unwanted stuff, have to be taken to collection sites. Go to www. pulaskiswdistrict. org / elec tronics. html for a list of these sites and service hours.
Cities vary in how they handle large items destined for the landfill. (Your stuff is making the transition to junk, so brace yourself ). In North Little Rock, for example, you can leave just about anything by your trash can, and the city makes regular sweeps to pick it up. In Little Rock, residents are advised to call (501 ) 888-2208 to alert the Sanitation Department that a large item has been left on the curb.
If the stuff you put out isn’t leaning too much, looks like it might still work and doesn’t smell too bad, a passer-by is more likely to pick it up than the city.
You can also load your stuff in a car or truck — this is called making a clean break — and take it to the Pulaski County landfill. It is located at 10805 Ironton Cutoff Road. The best way to get there is to get on Arch Street and follow the trail of plastic shopping bags.
The city will pick up your stuff curbside for free, but residents who take their junk to the landfill pay a fee for being industrious, proactive and not dumping it in the woods. The minimum is $ 15; dropping off a big pile of unwanted stuff will cost you $ 25- $ 30, depending on weight and what it is.
With the exception of the plastic bags that escape before they are buried, the landfill is a tidily run operation with helpful employees. There is a concrete pad near the gate to make it easy to drop off small loads. The pad is elevated and you drop your stuff over a rail and into a trailer about 10 feet below. This makes it harder to change your mind and try to retrieve it.
It is open to the public from 7 a. m. to 4 p. m. Monday-Friday, and one Saturday a month from 8 a. m. to noon. Call (501 ) 888-4299 for the monthly schedule as the Saturday opening varies.
As you struggle to reclaim your home and give, sell or dump your junk, remember what the Bible says: A fully loaded camel can’t get through the eye of a needle. Or something like that. Coming next week:
Insulated concrete forms are put to work in building all sorts of energy-efficient houses.