Out With The College Stuff

With the college application process pretty much winded down, I thought it was about time I went through my college mail (and clean my room in the process). It turned out to be quite an undertaking, because of the sheer volume of a year's worth of college mailbox spamming. But the reason it took three hours was because I had to sort through the mail, decide which letters to keep, and "gut" the envelopes to recycle the paper. Hey, every bit of green helps!

"Gutting" an envelope involves ripping out those pesky plastic windows that allow the address to peek through, throwing out the plastic (heck, recycle those if you want to, but I don't think the mixture of plastic film, glue, and residual paper is good for the recycling centers) and recycling paper part of the envelope. You can also reuse the letters inside the envelopes as scrap paper (a stack seen on the bottom of the picture).

In the end, the stack of college mail made a pile about 2 feet high and warranted its own recycling box. Now, some acceptance letters would be nice...

Freecycle - "Changing the world, one gift at a time"

From the Freecycle website (in case you haven't noticed, a combination of "free" and "recycle"):

The Freecycle Network was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson's downtown and help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. The Network provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items. One person's trash can truly be another's treasure!

Running through Yahoo! Groups, Freecycle allows people in a local area to give items no longer of use to them to other people who might be able to put it to use. It is, in essence, recycling. All transactions are gifts and must be free.

Freecycle simply provides a place for people to post up wanted ads or to offer items. The rest of the logistics are up to the two parties; they agree upon a pickup time and location (usually the offerer's home). Because it's a gift, the offerer can give it to anyone who inquires (I usually just give it to the first person, since that's the quickest way to move my crap). It's a great way to clean your room and get rid of things you'll never use again.

What are you waiting for? Find the nearest Freecycle community, or start your own!