Curb Day: How to empty your house of old junk (this Saturday)

(Photo: Jim Green / Getty Images)

Want to ditch your unwanted possessions and find new treasures, too?

Try the first national “Curb Day” this Saturday, May 16, when, thanks to the effort of one man with a penchant for trash, people around the country will swap old but useable stuff by leaving it curbside for passersby to pick up, take home, and make their own.

What better way to put into practice the green mantra: Reduce, reuse, recycle?

It may take time for Curb Day to catch on. There's no centralized way to find out if anyone else in your neighborhood is participating. Still, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t participate: It's as easy as taking out the trash – except this time, it will be picked up by interested owners, and not taken away to rot in a landfill.

Organized by Mike Morone, a Rochester, N.Y. man who once dumpster-dived to retrieve the trashed mats from the school gymnasium to give his aspiring gymnast daughters, Curb Day was inspired by his distaste for people’s overconsumption and – as a result – their waste of perfectly usable goods.

Whether you call it “trash digging” or practicing “freeganism,” sifting through your neighbor’s garbage can does not come naturally to most people. Morone thinks Curb Day can help to dispel some of those awkward feelings by creating an event that encourages people to give away their reusable items for the benefit of their neighbors – before the item is tossed in the garbage truck.

“A lot of the times, I’ll see something on the way to work and think that I can pick it up later. But it’s never there on the way home. It’s in the junk pile already,” Monroe said. “If everyone knew that this coming weekend was the day to get up and drive around, then we wouldn’t have to worry about losing our chance.”

Some cities may discourage the practice on non-trash days, so before breaking a sweat taking that couch to the curb, be sure to check with local officials and make sure you're in compliance with local laws. And don't expect anyone to clean up the junk not even your thrifty neighbors want; it's your job to pack it up at the end of Curb Day.

Happy Trash Digging!

Curb Day best practices

• On the evening of May 15th or the morning of May 16th, put any unwanted items to the curb, where you would normally put your trash for pick-up.
• The event runs all day, or until the curbside treasures disappear.
• Check with local officials to make sure you aren’t breaking any ordinances.
• With the exception of a few items, any useable item is accepted for curbside pick-up on Curb Day. Morone discourages garbage, weapons, chemicals, food items, and any illegal/dangerous items of any kind. He encourages unwanted electronics, sports equipment, gardening tools, clothes, furniture, household appliances, and the like.
• Be creative – you never know what might catch the eye of a potential new owner.
• Be wary of leaving items with links to personal information on the curb, like computers, where information on your hard drive can make you vulnerable to identity theft.
• If driving, be aware of drivers in front of you stopping and starting abruptly. When stopping, put on your car’s hazard lights, and be sure to use your turn signals when pulling to the side of the street.
• Since Curb Day is controlled by participants only, there will be no pickup service for items that remain curbside as the event ends. Morone encourages you to recycle what isn’t picked up, or to take advantage of other ways to clear clutter without trashing it (see The Daily Green's recommendations below).

Four ways to give your trash a second life

1) Donate: Donating to Goodwill, Salvation Army, or other thrift shops is the easiest way to unload after an afternoon of spring cleaning. Whether you’re giving stuff from your kitchen, closet, basement, or garage, thrift stores will take almost anything. Check store websites for your nearest drop-off location. Consignment shops – thrift stores that buy your unwanted clothing and re-sell it at a profit to them – are a great way to gain cash back from last season’s clothes that aren’t being worn. For a national directory of all registered consignment shops, visit thethriftshopper.com to find locations near you.

2) Exchange CDs for an iPod: Rid your drawers of old CDs in exchange for an iPod. 150 used CDs (in cases) will get you a new 8-gigabyte iPod Nano for free from ipodmeister.com. Your old music collection will then live on in the CD players of people abroad – the company ships 20,000 CDs at a time to re-sell in Eastern European, African, South American, and Caribbean countries.

3) Leave it where it will be wanted: Monroe likes to donate straight to the source. If he has a collection of unwanted tools, for example, he places them in an open, accessible corner of the Home Depot parking lot. Visitors to the store assume it’s there for the taking, and given a few hours, that’s exactly what happens: It’s taken. If you take his advice, do so with caution and tact. This is definitely not a way to rid yourself of anything but the most high-quality used items, since you don't want to be accused of dumping.

4) Connect on the Web: Use the power of the net to connect with people who can use or buy your old stuff. Post what you have to give away onto the “free stuff” boards on Craigslist, Freecycle, or sell it for a profit on sites like eBay.

More from The Daily Green

• The Best of Freecycle: 18 Weird Things Free on the Web
• 30+ Ways to Save Money by Going Green
• Amazing Homes Made From Old Shipping Containers
• Upcycled Art: Sculptures Made From Cardboard
• 33 Unique Products Made From Recycled Materials

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc