Re: Freecycling

You can open one in Israel! If you go to their web site, they have a link for opening a chapter.

I was thinking of opening one in my town. I that there was one for Milan and I clicked on it. Obviously it is nearly dead, with only occasional posts and mostly people asking for things rather than offering things. I decided that Italy must not be ready for freecycling.

In Italy, there are almost no used merchandise stores of any kind. There also are hardly any flea markets, and no yard sales or other impromptu sales. People tend to have a "cantina" and other outbuildings crammed full of stuff they don't use anymore, but there's no way to get rid of the stuff other than outright throwing it out, which most Italians don't want to do.

A neighbor of m>

I find that very interesting, I bet that Italians, are thrifty and recycle within their families. Reusing instead of buying new. When Otto and I came to Canada, we were absolutly amazed at what was sitting by the garbage, on garbage day. In Holland at that time most people did not have a fridge or a TV. In Toronto we saw those sitting by the garbage can. That was how we were able to build our first wooden boat. All from wood that was thrown out. Part of the flooring from Ginger Ale factory, and the piping needed for cooling the motor, from a chocolate factory. Otto was not allowed to clean those pipes the kids had first go at these. Those were the good old days.....LOL

Els

Hahahha i can see it your kids licking those Chocolade pipes ,,,,,, Now why didn`t you find some `bank pipes with some bills in them ?

mirjam hahahhaha

Once upon a time, Italians were like that. However, no longer! Everyone wants everything 100% brand new and brand name. I'm astonished to see how young couples set up housekeeping in Italy. Their houses look like they're from a home decorating advertisement. When my daughter got married, they combined the old furniture from his apartment and the old furniture from her apartment, kept the best of it, and sold the rest at a yard sale. That would be unthinkable in Italy, even for a family of modest means.

However, Italians still have a feeling of guilt about throwing things out. That's why the cantinas and outbuildings are crammed with stuff. When my husband's oldest son got married, my husband gave the young couple the family beach house. They redid the interior, with all new furnishings, and what could they do with the old furniture? We couldn't keep it, because our cantinas are already full of my husband's mother's furniture, his mother-in-law's furniture, and the bathroom fixtures he removed when he modernized our bathroom 20 years ago. My husband said we could use the beach house furniture to furnish our house in the mountains, which is being restructured following an earthquake. Temporarily the bride's parents are keeping the furniture for us. However, the solution is not ideal, because then where will we put the furniture that's already in the house in the mountains?

We were trying to clean out one of our cantinas this morning, because I would like to have a workroom. We have two garages and four cantinas. All are crammed full of stuff, and I have no space to spread out and do sewing. I have to get down on my knees on the floor to cut anything out, and my knees are no longer in the shape they once were.

To me, all that space being used to store old furniture that nobody will ever want is a waste. To my husband, throwing it out would be a waste. I suggested trying to sell it on ebay, and he laughed at the idea that anybody would want to buy any of it. So what's the point of keeping it? To me, thrift is only a virtue if you actually use the stuff you save. If you leave it unused, you are only creating a burden for your children who will have to hire a bulldozer to clean it out when you pass on to that mansion in the beyond.

We managed to clear a little space this morning, but already my husband is suggesting we could use part of it as storage for the overflow from his professional studio. At least I'm getting a good work table from his studio.

Do you and Otto want to have a look in our cantinas to see if there's anything you could use?

Barbara, can I ask you please... what is a cantina? I had thought that it was a small Spanish/Mexican/Italian bar, but obviously I am way off on that!

Wow that is so unbelievable about how some people do not use, sell, donate old furniture in some places. Just driving down the street in the nearby city every so often on garbage day makes me sad to see some beautiful desks, coffee tables, end tables, etc sitting on the curb when they could be donated to St Vincent de Paul, Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc for them to resell and put the money to good use.

Although my Mom knew someone who called the Salvation Army to come pick up a beautiful sofa and chair that was in perfect condition (my Mom had seen it and said it had no signs of wear at all) because they were getting brand new and their grown children had their own furniture and didn't need or want it.... but when the people came from Salvation Army they told the woman that it was not a new enough *style* for them to be interested in taking. The woman couldn't believe her ears... afterall it wasn't meant for THEM to keep for their use, it was meant to resell to someone who could use it and couldn't afford to buy new. She called St Vincent de Paul and asked them if they would be interested or if the style wasn't new enough for them to take.... they told her they didn't care what style or age it was as long as it wasn't falling apart, that *someone* would buy it, love it and appreciate being able to afford it.

A cantina is what would be called a basement in the US, except that in Italy it's often on the ground floor. The ground floor of an Italian residential building (or sometimes actually a basement or a partially underground floor) is usually broken up into small rooms that are used for storage. In the city, these would often be used as shops. In an small apartment building, usually each tenant gets a cantina on the ground floor (or basement). In the country, until recently, these rooms might even be used as chicken houses or cow stalls.

The cantina was often used to store the family's home-brewed wine, which might have led to the meaning you know for the word.

Well I guess because the "Mint" in Ottawa, where our money is made, if they had machinery pipes to make money in the first place, would never recycle them....Ha, ha

Els

Ahh, no, I think not. Because we have never thrown anything out, our house is also full with stuff. I can see starting up a business thought, a business of old furniture. The tourists would love to come and browse.....

Els

Has your husband ever looked on ebay, to see what kind of things sell? He might be very surprised.

=Tamar

Yes, he's been looking on ebay for a film scanner for some time now.

The question is, would the same kind of stuff sell on the Italian ebay as on the American ebay? (I really don't know, as I don't follow ebay. I'm not much into buying anything except maybe books.)

Thank you for that description, now I know! :o)

Peace! Gemini

I guess you never know until you try. Cars sell on eBay, so size isn't necessarily a problem.

Even if he's right about most Italians not wanting to buy anything old, there might be someone - I don't know, an antique collector, someone nostalgic, or trying to replace something lost in a fire, or that someone else inherited - even someone from, say, France - who might be interested.

=Tamar