I've been swearing that Craig's List is the best thing ever because it lets people send used items to other homes, instead of into landfills. And, unlike eBay, it has no bidding and uses local sites so you don't have to wade through stuff from the U.K.
But I was looking for some more cheap items for possible bathroom and kitchen revamps last night and realized I had another local source that was so very searchable.
It's The Herald News' classified ads.
This is not lame PR to try to curry favor. I really use this. When a nice senior in Rockdale is getting rid of her gorgeous, never-been-scratched rocking chair, she's going to get a classified ad, not put a listing on Craig's List. And she's probably going to charge you Depression-era prices, not the arm-and-a-leg price an eBay fiend would put on it.
But it's not all ink-on-the-fingers searching.
See, those ads are computerized, meaning you can search them on our Web site.
Nothing, nothing, nothing will ever beat circling garage sale ads in red pen on a physical newspaper, but when you're looking for a very specific item, the online classifieds are blessing. It'll save you a ton of time and give you results close to home.
You can choose which papers you want to search. I live in Plainfield, so I tend to mark The Herald News, The Plainfield Sun, The Naperville Sun and The Beacon News.
From there, I can choose how many days' worth of ads I want, what category I want, and I can even type in a specific word, like dishwasher.
(A note to my dear, dear husband: Yes, I know that washing dishes by hand can use less water and therefore more eco-friendly if done properly. But I dream of an Energy Star dishwasher when we can afford the machine and the plumbing changes. Clean dishes on demand, sweetie!)
If you've got you're sights set on something bigger and better, say a job, a car or a house, there are links at the left to our amazing SearchChicago-Autos, SearchChicago-Homes and SearchChicago-Jobs ... you get the idea. Big resources, big search powers.
If you're still old-fashioned like me, you'll still want to cast an eye on the print version of these sections. It seems like the best stuff I find is something I didn't know I was looking for. It's the print editions that bring that to me. But when you know what you want and you want it now and you want it cheap, it's online all the way.
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
Do you know about "Freecycle?" It's a group you join by geographical location via Yahoo and you can get recycled free stuff -- or give your stuff away. I've been able to give away some nice furniture as well as get a free dulcimer that I'd always wanted.
I do know about it, but I confess I haven't actually done it yet.
Reporter Dawn Aulet is the Freecycle queen here, and she keeps an eye out for anything we've mentioned that we need or that she thinks we might need. I'm used to getting, "Hey there's a free thing in New Lenox that ..." e-mails from her.
My husband and I both come from families that have trouble passing up free, quality stuff. I'm afraid if I joined Freecycle I would not be able to stop. The second I read something about a nice antique that would go in the garbage if not claimed, I'd take it to save it for someone else. I'd end up like those cat hoarders, only it would be dressers.
I think if you don't have the clutter gene, Freecycle is the best thing that you can use. I also think it's a phenomenally green option, because the free aspect makes people give away even the little stuff, stuff they normally wouldn't go out of their way to save for a garage sale or find a way to reuse or recycle.
I'm glad there are people like you who have the self-control to use Freecycle wisely. You're helping me by keeping stuff out of landfills. Thanks!
Naperville IL Freecycle Warning
I was a member of the Naperville IL Freecycle group for a short time. During my membership, I was first accused of not being the correct area in order to be in the group. I was banned from the group. After many emails to the moderator of the group, my membership was reinstated. Then a few months later, I was banned from the group again. This time, with no reason given. After multiple emails to the moderator, there was still no reason given. I had to email the national freecycle moderator to get any answers. The only answers that they were able to get was that I picked up items that were not promised to me and that I posted too many "Wanted" posts. Neither of these did I do.
Anyone that is a member of this group or wishes to become a member, please beware of these practices of members being accused of not following the group's rule without being given a chance to defend themselves when things like this go bad.