This past weekend I stopped in at my first of the season garage sales. They were primarily selling kids things so I ended up buying nothing but there sat a gigantic nice television that works fine with a big free sign. The man was having an extremely difficult time getting rid of it. One of our kids told us that you can recycle things like TVs , even working ones, at most office supply stores (St**ples).
One exception to this rule seems to be records - they started making record players again for those vintage loving nostalgics who are causing the resale market on record players to go sky high.
I like the new flat panel televisions as much as the next guy - primarily for their use in small spaces but what a waste - no one wants perfectly usable items. Something to think about when you set about buying your next new electronic gadget that will cost you big bucks now but in a years time will be obsolete.
so true! We're the happy recipient of a friends large screen big box offcast when they upgraded to a flat screen. We kept it in the garage for 2 years until our current TV died (on Christmas Day!!) and had it's replacement ready to go!
ReplyDeleteOur local Goodwill takes the electronics, they do sell at bargain basement prices.
Our thrift stores don't take most electronics unfortunately but we were able to give away one of the tvs to a family for the kids and the other tv was kept by one of our kids. Very handy to have a replacement!
DeleteSame goes for computers. We had a couple of big old ones with huge bulky monitors. My how they've changed!
ReplyDeleteMy Mom still has one of those old monitors and towers. I am trying to have her upgrade to a basic laptop as all she does is email and surf the internet. It would be way smaller and there would not longer be a requirement for a desk...we shall see.
DeleteI had a heck of a time trying to get rid of old electronics. Now I am looking for a couple to "recycle" so I can get into the Green Living Show in Toronto for free!!!
ReplyDeleteGill
Too bad you didn't live closer!
DeleteWe donated our ridiculously large tv to Goodwill. Thye lovingly took it. Mind you, we had to buy a tv for Anna when she got her own apartment and it cost $.80. It worked fine but was terrible to lug around.
ReplyDeleteWe have one large tv left and it is in Anna's room. Poor kid!
For some reason our thrift stores stopped, so funny how people just shy away from them.
DeleteOur old TVs are useless here now that the signal has been switched over to digital (unless you have a set top box) - we upgraded our TVs last year and the old TVs went to the recycling. Some places were charging around $20 to dump them but our local council now accept them for free. Thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteJudy xx
Most of our signals are digital too - but as long as the tv is less than about 15 years old they still work for basic channels. I think eventually we will have to pay to recycle them here.
DeleteWish I'd kept all my old records!
ReplyDeleteSft x
They say everything comes back around, doesn't it! My stepdaughter now wears legwarmers and skinny jeans, definite throwbacks from the 1980s
DeleteWe use our old televisions at camp. The only downside to that is having to move them there and back as you can't leave them there in the winter -- the extreme cold ruins the picture tube. I went out and bought a USB turntable so I can convert vinyl to MP3 format. I can use it to play records via my PC, but the MP3s can be loaded to a player.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea - I no longer have any records but that would be great with someone who has a good LP collection. Way easier to manage.
DeleteI know how hard it is to get rid of old tv's - we had the same problem - no thrift will take them! Maybe you will have better luck with the VCR and DVD combo tv's - I know people look for VCR's.
ReplyDeleteI think record players will always be popular!! Vinyl is the best!
In the end one of the kids kept the tv with the DVD/VCR combo for herself :)
DeleteIt is hard to get rid of them... which I find kind of funny. Because if someone has NO tv and wants one for FREE, you'd *think* they'd be happy with ANY tv?? lol!!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, people without a pot to pee in yet fussy as to what kind of tv they have lol
DeleteIsn't it funny what comes back in style ... who would have thought records and record players?!?!
ReplyDeleteI really hope the Pat Benetar headband look doesn't come back though :)
DeleteWhen we moved north from California, we got rid of all of the old records, some 33s from my parents. Bet someone would have loved them now, but no takers then. They went to Goodwill and who knows what happened then. I took them lots of books, including some really old ones, and I saw them put them in the paper recycle bin. That hurt. - Margy
ReplyDeleteI would be very upset if someone tossed out perfectly good books that were donated. They have a charity sale of books in Courtenay every year, last year 20,000 books were sold for $1 each! Some people like me still prefer the old paper standby.
DeleteI have a ginormous older model TV to get rid of - I will probably just drop it off at a nearby Goodwill - it's in perfect working order but I'm sure not moving it to PEI! We are guilty of buying a new flat screen TV that connects to our wifi so we can watch Netflix etc. but that was our first purchase in many years. You should see my laptop - it's currently being held together by duct tape!! I'm determined it will last another year til I retire then I will allow myself to buy a Mactop.
ReplyDeleteMy laptops has no ducktape but it is going to last until it dies - I just replaced the battery using amazon GCs from Swagbucks and intend to get as much life out of it as possible. It would make no sense to move that big tv to PEI, definitely the flatscreen makes more sense.
Deleteif you have freecycle or craigslist in your area, that's a good way of donating directly to a person that wants or needs an item, I would hate to see books being recycle too.
ReplyDelete