Pass It On

In addition to clothing swaps, I also like the idea of Freecycle--an email list that you can join where people post things they're looking to pass along, and other people who might be able to use those things can snap them up.

I got some nice little thank-you cards that way, which I promptly used. Also, I got rid of a dorm fridge from college that I figured I was never going to need again.

And then, a month later, I really wished I still had it!--nah, just kidding. I'm always afraid if I get rid of something I'll wish later that I still had it, but I have never regretted giving that fridge to someone else who, I hope, got some good use out of it.

The only thing is, it does tend to get a little unwieldy with the back-and-forth email tag trying to figure out who's going to leave what where at what time so someone can pick it up, etc.

I'm hoping someone will come get some old board games we never play, but I don't know if I should just leave them in the lobby all night, since that might be a fire hazard or something.

You know I would feel terrible if our elderly neighbors were fleeing from a fire, tripped over our unwanted "Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit" on the way though the foyer, injured themselves, and had to be taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

I mean, if I'm going to get Evil Points, I want it to be for something more intentional, and more clever, than accidentally felling my neighbors with a board game.

Use it Again

I saw this on NPR's Twitter account ages ago and meant to exclaim in glee over the fact that bacteria in reusable grocery bags is apparently not that big a concern. They can carry germs, just like anything that might get dirty, but at least one study suggests that it's not likely to be in large enough concentrations to make people sick.

I carry piles of reusable bags, ever since I started to feel overwhelmed by the plastic ones and decided to make it a personal goal to stop bringing them home (we use them in trash bins, but you can only go through so many).

I might be a little leery of carrying meat around in reusable bags, since meat juice is notoriously popular with your more discerning human-illness-causing bacteria, but since I conveniently don't eat meat, there's no worry there.

I suppose if you do eat meat, you could always just wipe the bags down with a touch of rubbing alcohol or the like. As far as I'm concerned, it would be well worth it to avoid being smothered by the accumulation of plastic bags.

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