even sven, it depends where you are. In the NYC area many rental properties, that include most other kitchen things (stove, sink, etc) the renter has to provide a refrigerator. If they want one.
Also, having a large freezer does allow for lower income people to do more bulk buying and making large batches of food. It’s a long term investment that can provide big dividends.
Alternately, here in the Boston area, it is the landlord or lady’s responsibility to provide a working refrigerator, so there’s probably not a very good market for used fridges around here, because so many people rent rather than own their homes.
That would be botulism, not salmonella. But then, botulism seems to be almost unheard of nowadays, except for Botox.
You see all kinds of crappy things donated. For godsakes, is it that much trouble to go out and get some store brand pasta, crackers and canned goods?
“What’s for Thanksgiving dinner, mom?”
“Pasta and crackers. Just like last year.”
“Hooray! God bless those generous angels!”
From the CDC, for what it’s worth:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/botulism_g.htm#How%20common%20is%20botulism
:rolleyes: More like:
“But mom, it’s near the end of the month! And we’re having spaghetti! How did you manage that?”
Ha ha, very funny. I guess I should have said basic, non-perishable staples. You can buy those Lipton Noodles and Sauce combos, cans of soup, veggies, etc. Yeah, it’s boring, but it’s not leftover crap that’s been sitting in your pantry for four years.
I work for Habitat for Humanity and people dump trash on us all the time. Two examples.
Last year, we did a promotion with Port Discovery. They accepted a “new or lightly used hand tool” in exchange for a childs admission. We recieved 300+ items, about 30% of which were somewhat useful. The rest incluided.
Used, rusty circular saw blades
Used, paint coated paint brushes
1950’s vintage power tools
Rusty crescent wrenches and screwdrivers galore
Misc. unidentifiable junk
And the kicker?
A used utility knife,of the brand we buy labled with our initials in black marker, just like we do! That’s right, somebody gave us back one of our own tools, to get into Port Discovery.
Another example. We received a phone call from a nice retired getleman in Towson. He said he had a “brand new” hot water heater to donate, if we could just come and get it. So my boss and I drive 30 minutes up there only to find that the water heater is obiviously used. Now, it may work and it may not, but we’d have to pay to have it installed in someone’s home, then pay to replace it if it failed. So, rather than make a fuss, we just hauled it off and sent it to the junkyard. He probably wrote it off on his taxes, too.
I didn’t mean to include stuff you got that you just didn’t like (like say, you don’t like corn but someone gives you corn, so you donate it). I just meant dangerous and/or expired foods, that’s all. Sorry for the wrong impression.
Here in Melbourne (and I assume the rest of Aus as well) Goodwill stores will no longer accept second-hand electrical goods for those very reasons.
On the lines of just getting stuff gone: you might want to check to see if there’s a Freecycle in your area. It’s a wonderful way to get stuff you no longer need to people who have a use for it.
And you might be surprised at who the ‘poor’ people are who are happy to get stuff. I live in a nice middle-class town, and so do most of the people who have claimed my stuff. People who live in nice houses can still have lost jobs, had major medical expences, be house poor, etc. etc. Or maybe they’re simply frugal --it’s not considered a sin in Yankeeland.
So far I’ve used it to pass along a DVD player (got a new one as a present), an upright vacuum cleaner (I prefer my cannister), a breadmachine (virtually brand new: I made one loaf of bread and decided who needs that chore on top of the rest?), a computer system (upgraded), a dryer (washer died, replace with new set), and tons more smaller items.
Oh, please. Why don’t you take a day and volunteer to help sort stuff at your local Salvation Army or Goodwill, and see the kind of crap that gets foisted off on these people as donations? Garbage is not charity, and it never will be.
Furthermore, the laws of physics have to come into play at some point. A store occupies a finite amount of space. Objects take up said space. At some point, you can’t fit any more sofas in the store, and you have to stop taking them. Same with the large appliances and the mattresses and all the rest of it. Sometimes, there just isn’t any room, and there is nothing you can do to make more.
That used to be the case during the bubble years of the 80’s, but like cckerberos said, it sure ain’t the case now. For a time when the Japanese economy was doing so well, the fashionable thing was to buy the latest model of every appliance on a regular basis, and simply throw away the old stuff. That’s pretty much all gone, now, and if you see an appliance sitting on the curb nowadays, odds are it’s well and truly busted. Still, back in our struggling teacher days, my friend found a small B&W TV that was still fine for his kids to watch videos on, while I found a VCR that never worked but at least taught me a lot about the inner workings of VCRs.
On the downside, it’s no longer possible to have a nicely furnished apartment solely by dumpster-diving. On the upside, appliance makers now have to make real improvements to their products to get people to buy new ones, rather than just changing the outer casing.
Yes, you are. This thread actually made it through 20 posts before you added your irrelevant and totally predictable Bush bashing comments, and you still did it after reading the first 20 comments and realized that this thread had nothing to do with Bush.
Don’t you ever get tired of this? Oh, wait. Don’t answer that, because I already know what the answer is. It’ll be some cheesy non sequitor about me, and somehow you’ll tie Bush into it. You’re as predictable as the seasons.
Well, that was a while back, and nobody paid much attention, until you decided to bring it up. Perhaps if you’d rather talk about rjung’s failings, you might start a thread about it.
My favorite dwarf was Dopey. I’m betting yours was Grumpy.
You can actually do fairly well in Manhattan if you’re lucky. Appliances may not work, but furniture is often in good shape. I have a great bookshelf that I picked up this way, and there’s no reason I couldn’t have gone out and bought one retail.
Amen to that! One of the judges at work collects toys and books to give out to kids who come through the system. His chambers are stuffed with them, as is an unused chambers (don’t know if that is the word, but you get the idea.) Anyway, some people donated used clothing which sat around for months and stank up the room so badly with mold and mildew that I got screaming headaches whenever I came withing ten feet of the door before they finally hauled it away (I shudder to think where it ended up.)
Here’s a hint, folks – if you wish to donate clothing, and it has been stored for a long time or if it has been stored in a basement or attic, for GOD’s sake, wash it first!!! If you can’t be bothered to wash it, or if the smell won’t come out, or if you want to donate clothing that is inappropriate for re-use (think old socks and underwear) or excessively hideous or ragged, call one of those places that leave metal boxes in shopping centers for clothing donations and find out if the clothing is shredded for rag content (as it frequently is). Rag donations are useful, too, but don’t mix them up with usable clothing donations.
I still think Airman Doors secretly has a crush on me. It’d sure explain the psuedo-stalking obsessive behavior, anyway.
Quite possibly one of the more ironic things you have ever posted.