A Second Thought on Downsizing...

There are way better ways to do this whole get-rid-of-half-your-possessions thing. That is, if you have a bit more forethought, and not a surprise $1000 rent increase and a roommate deciding to go on a last minute cross country rendez-vous.

In my defense, the free box method is a time honored Portland tradition, and probably the reason that I have most of this shit in the first place. However, there comes a point when your free box just becomes some sort of grotesque illegal dumping situation. We were definitely toeing that line for a while there.

And yes, the whole freegan love thing is pretty cool, but donating it somewhere may actually be a better way to go. Goodwill's an OK option, but should probably only be used as a last resort. I can't lie though, that is definitely what we did after we let our neighborhood have their pick of it.

What I probably should have done was give it to an organization that could have put more use to it than those craigslist trolls.

Well, shit. In my regret, I've decided to mention some of those organizations in my area that do great work with all that non-trash trash out there. I'll use them for the next half of this inventory reduction. Holla.

• The Arc of Multnomah/Washington County - These guys run a resale store to fund their programs. Clients from their programs come and volunteer with me at my work.The have a long list of things that they don't accept, but definitely worth it to sort out the things they could use. 
• Volunteers of America - They do a similar thing. Volunteering at the Food Bank every once and a while too. Great things both these programs are doing
• SCRAP - an amazing arts and crafts reuse center! They are definitely getting my fabric collection.
• The Community Warehouse - They take bigger things like furniture. But remember to keep it classy. Charities don't want your junk neither.
• William Temple House - They run something similar to a Goodwill, and have a social services and emergency assistance piece, but they are a faith-based organization...and I tend to avoid that.
• Oregon Food Bank - Lest we forget, cleaning up the kitchen. Oregon Food Bank accepts unopened non-perishable & perishable food  items for our neighbors in need. 

Anyway, yeah, after its all said and done, and my lackluster Goodwill donation was complete; I am still left with a bit of trash. OK. A lot of trash. There is a random bed, that I don't know where it came from, and a futon cushion from a futon that I definitely never owned. I snuck it over to my new house in the middle of the night and stuck it behind a truck in the front lawn. Definitely the opposite of classy.

Goddammit, what do I do with that thing?!

I think I"m going to burn it. Yeah, I'll let you know how that goes.