I saw a rather interesting Facebook post where someone was commenting on why people throw out stacks of furniture instead of donating it.
It was made clear that for this thought exercise we are removing broken or unfit for donation furniture. Instead picture things like leather couches without damage or wooden bureaus, that kind of thing. The “non perishable” version of furniture.
Instantly a wave of people appeared with ideas and suggestions. There are Facebook groups focused on donations. There are all kinds of charities that in theory would be able to take it.
Then the good-for-use furniture would go to the people who need it most.
Donation in action, but… as is the case with many utopias there is a cost.
Any of that donated furniture needs to be transported to the donation center
I drive a Nissen Sentra S, while it can handle some smaller furniture items, most of the stuff I would leave for big garbage day would not fit in my car.
In fact a 65 inch TV recently damaged the rubber lining where my trunk door meets the car. Moving big and bulky items is an inconvenience. You either risk damaging your own vehicle or you incur a cost to logistically move the items.
It’s also likely a minimum of a 2 person job. One that literally you can risk hurting yourself performing. Keep in mind that this whole moving the item thing happens twice.
First you need to get it to the donation center, then one day someone in theory is supposed to receive it.
This creates a legitimate concern, who manages that?
In order for your furniture donation to really be a donation you’d need to pay the shipping fees
Once you take your big old bulky hard to transport good condition furniture item and dispose of it, you’ll probably forget about it.
Now the church, shelter or other group that has this item needs to do something with it. Here’s where it kind of gets darker. The people who need this the most, probably cannot afford to actually get the item home.
They probably don’t have a van and if they are looking for free furniture, they probably don’t have extra money. This means someone has to deal with the cost of moving this furniture.
Now look if you are dropping off a 2000$ bed someone can cop for 100$ this is a blessing. However this is more akin to a value village styled business than an actual charitable donation thing. While you are being charitable, it’s not without a cost.
And like I said you are also paying some kind of cost to get the furniture there in the first place.
Waste disposal is a complicated thing to manage in general
At one point I needed to throw out my 275 pound elliptical.
This is far too heavy for the garbage trucks. Far too heavy for me to transport on my own. At this weight class you need to go directly to eco centers and have a weigh in to find out how much you pay.
Basically it costs money to throw things out.
A lot of that is covered by our taxes. These are the regular garbage removal services we are all accustomed to. They aren’t exactly free because we get taxed, but they don’t come with a la carte removal prices.
Honestly it’s so complicated to throw out large items on your own that you end up just hiring waste removal dudes because they can just streamline it. You’re going to pay out your ass no matter what when it’s a 275 pound elliptical.
Tying this back to the donation, unless there’s people with trucks donating time and manpower, the logistics of big furniture donations are complicated.
It’s definitely something the city should explore, but it’s not really a “donation” as it stands.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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