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Mommas don’t let your babies grow up to be junk men Yup, Bart’s been on the Waylon Jennings I-tune website. Thus the reason why this title ‘sings’. Anyways, to get this article ‘on the road again… “What’s wrong with you?!” asked the miffed, middle aged female customer as I helped her off load some refuse. “Ma’am”, I replied, “that would require a pretty lengthy answer and is the subject of medical and psychological studies and at least one federal investigation, so I don’t think we have quite enough time to …” “NO, NO, NO!”, she exclaimed, “not your single, pathetic existence. I’m talking about MEN in general. Why don’t you ever want to throw anything away? You can’t possibly use it all and you sure can’t take it with you! So what’s your problem?! Or I mean MENS’ problem?!”. Not the first time I’ve heard such a harangue. There do tend to be more ‘compulsive acquirers’ with a Y chromosome as compared to the ol’ double Xs. It has happened on more than several dozen occasions during my tenure at the dump that a customer’s vehicle weighed more on the way out than it did coming in. Nine times out of ten the perpetrator has a first name like Tom, Dick or Harry. Such ‘obtainers’ usually like to kid that “the landfill should pay them”. They typically find this quite humorous until I ask if they have a note from their wife authorizing them to bring all this stuff back home. Reactions I observe in the ‘obtainer’ at this point range from mild tachicardia to shear pant wetting terror. A bit harsh, but the problem is usually solved! It can be a fine line between thrift and psychosis. What is most important is whether ‘the stuff’ is ever actually reused. Several options here on what to do with stuff you’re done with. Rummage sales, donations to thrift shops or emergency shelters, or simply giving it away to friends or relatives are all good alternatives. Maybe you don’t want to set up and hold a rummage sale, but you probably know of or could easily find somebody who holds rummage sales annual. These folks, usually of the female persuasion, are true retail professionals that can ‘move stuff what needs to be moved’. Now some folks would also argue to stockpile items for the potential use by future generations. However, I’ve also had my share of ‘future generations’ complaining about the clutter they have to wade through after their benefactors have ‘settled back to the dust’. In such circumstances, quite a bit of really good stuff often simply gets pitched into the dumpster. Hiring a professional to help with clearing out an estate can be very helpful and these folks have a good feel for what’s saleable/useable and what’s not. Therefore, I put it to you. It’s only stuff to begin with. How much of it will you actually use? Is it saleable or do you know of anybody who would actually enjoy and/or find utility with it? How about local shelters? Or thrift shops such as St. Matthias, St. Joe’s, Seventh Day Adventist, Goodwill, St. Theresa’s, St. Pete’s, or even St. Vinny’s? It you donate to any of these establishments, please don’t simply drop a load off, especially at o’dark thirty in the morning. Be sure to check to see what items they accept. Most of these shops are listed in the phone book. In the end we’re talking REUSE here, as in Reduce, REUSE, Recycle & Compost. Less stuff is going into landfills and that’s a good thing for us all. And my final request for you today… does anybody know whom the patron Saint of hoarders is? |
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©2004 Oneida County Solid Waste Department
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
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