apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Yeah I am already using freecycle.org to the fullest. But nobody seems to want an old but perfectly functioning Apple Quadra 630

I think that Quadra was another name for the Centris 660AV which I bought in 1994, which took about 15 minutes to become obsolete, after having cost an obscene amount of money that I could ill-afford at the time, to start with. I'm surprised you could use it this long! Congrats! I couldn't even get e-mail on mine by 1996. I don't think you could pay me by the hour to own a Mac again.

i could not agree with you more. i used to be an apple fan till that point.. but things changed for me after that. I had in a box packaged away for last 5-6 years..thats why it still works..:-) i am emptying my closets now..

Um, what pieces of technology (Apple or otherwise) ARE you using that has survived from 1994?

I bet that Texas Instruments wrist calculator looks HOT with your Atari T-shirt! ;)

I'm with p(too) on this one... I don't know why you think a computer that came out when I was in middle school is something you can donate to a school or non-profit, especially since they can buy a brand new one so cheaply these days. I had a hard time giving away the CRT monitor I used through undergrad. Unless it has sentimental value, you should just go ahead and recycle it...

and you're in luck... the next nyc recycling days start in mid-October:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/recycling/electronicsrecycling_2005.shtml

I just moved into my first home, so I'm already decluttered, but the setup in my bedroom closet is all wrong. It's a total waste of space. I'm tearing out all the hardware that's currently in the closet, and redoing the whole thing to include shelves, two bars for hangers, places for sweater boxes and a shoe bench.

I'm in the process of organizing my chest of drawers. I've got two sock organizers and one other drawer organizer and I'm unbelievably proud of the work I've done although I'm far from finished

i just bought 3 CD binders and 2 DVD binders for all my discs. i threw out all jewel cases and DVD boxes, which felt so good! it was also a good way to see what music i really don't want anymore. i brought all those CDs to a resell place, and traded them in for a movie i haven't been able to find for years! now my storage space has tripled and i was able to store all the crap that's been laying around my place for 2 years. the container store is my savior.

Unfortunately this is a by product of our disposable culture as well as the pace of technological advance in some areas. I have an old Apple IIci I'm using as a side table base ;-). One more thing to declutter.

For recycling old obsolete Apple computers check this site:
http://www.apple.com/environment/recycling/nationalservices/us.html

Reading about how many people have recently lost everything they own spurred me to go through everything in my tiny apartment this past weekend. Although I do strive to be a minimalist, I was amazed at how much I came up with that I didn't love, need, or use. I donated a carload of stuff (towels, blankets, extra flashlight, ice packs, cooler, ignored dog and cat toys, etc.) to a local group that is shipping these items to Noah's Wish and other great organizations helping rescue and shelter pets from the Gulf Coast. I've also come up with a few bags of items for the humane society thrift shop. And I don't think I'm done yet. I encourage everyone to do the same.

I did a little decluttering over the weekend. My friends' family lived in Metairie and are now scattered around the South. She emailed a bunch of friends asking for clothing in various sizes and anything useful we had lying around. I normally go through my clothes sometime in late fall, so I had a bunch of things to give away. I found that even though I don't personally know her family, I found myself giving away things that I thought were too good to give away to just anyone. I think next time I declutter and donate, I should imagine the people I'm giving my clothing to, since it made me far more generous.

While the bedroom closet looks superficially organized, it has a bunch of pending issues I ought to get done this month:

1. Decide what to do with old bedspread that will fall apart if washed and can't be donated without washing.

2. So that I can put clothes where they actually GO and wear my whole wardrobe, sew missing buttons on husband's jackets, take shoes to be repaired, and take pants to be hemmed.

3. Decide if my lifestyle really supports Liz Claiborne pink-green-cyan flipflops and Loro Piamo pumpkin-colored jeans. (Not together... and possibly not separately)

4. Go through the ephemera at each end and see if any can go to a more appreciative home.

The fact that this is fairly minor has to do with my working on decluttering for the past YEAR.

Hey now, Patrick. I STILL rock my orange Atari t-shirt.

I would really like to get all the catch-all "organizing" baskets in my living room de-cluttered. I have three large ones on my shelving unit, and four small ones at my desk...no, make that five. (I started using an additional one for miscellaneous everyday stuff, because I can never find anything I need in the four I already have!)

I'd LIKE to pledge to de-clutter my hall closet as well (which isn't TOO bad, as I did it a year ago), but I don't think I can promise that one by the end of the month.

Forgot to add that de-cluttering my desk will be a co-project along with de-cluttering the organizing baskets. :)

I'd like to clear out the junk under my bed - bad feng shui to sleep over junk. It's such a handy "storage" area, i.e., good place to shove things when company's coming. I know that I can just get rid of some of it, but other stuff needs a better storage place. A quick look reveals a lot of paper that needs to be archived, filing supplies that I probably don't need anymore since I've downsized my paper tremendously, DSL devices, a box that my Roomba came in that I'm saving in case something goes wrong with it...you get the picture. Must be ruthless. Oh, and some sleeping nooks for the cat. Those stay.

On Apple: I LOVE my Mac Powerbook. I'll never go back to Windows in my personal world.

Wende- You could try donating that old comforter to the ASPCA or similar- many animal rescue groups will take old bedding or linens and cut them up to provide a comfy place for animals in crates waiting for adoption. And the ASPCA and HSUS have been doing a ton of work to rescue the animals displaced by Katrina, so you'll be helping two great causes at once.