the lean green swapping machine

The funniest thing happened last weekend. I was sauntering down my street, in my middle-of-the-road neighborhood, when a shiny new desktop scanner caught my eye. And no, it wasn’t in a shop window- it was sitting right there on the pavement with a note attached:
“Please take. Scanner is in perfect working order, just can’t be bothered to work out how to sync with new powerbook.”
After looking around for the candid camera, I realized that no, this wasn’t a joke. There are so many things wrong with this picture… while I appreciate the neighbourly generosity, it seems symptomatic of a world in which we consume and discard tons of stuff without much - if any - thought of the impact on our planet.
This isn’t a one off, either. Someone seems to be moving house or spring-cleaning on my street every week. As I stumble to the bus stop, bleary eyed on Monday mornings, I find myself tripping over furniture, kitchenware, pc monitors and all sorts of random bits and pieces.
What I find remarkable about this is the fact that my neighbours (in an area where the second largest share of votes went to the Green Party at the last election), have no qualms about chucking out expensive things with plenty of life left in them. Do people realize they end up in landfill? Recent figures indicate that up to 60% of everything that ends up in the dump could have been recycled – and It’s taking up a lot of space on our planet.
Why is it that while we’ll vote green, recycle our rubbish, spend over-the-odds on organic veggies and tut with disapproval at people who litter the streets, we switch off our green conscience when it comes to our own back yard?
The old ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ really holds true; there’s no stigma attached to grabbing some pre-loved furniture from the street, and nor should there be. But instead of shoving a sofa that’s got plenty of life left in it onto the street, hoping that someone else will pick it up or the council will dump it for you, why not be a little more proactive?
Swap it, and get something back, or give it to someone who might call it a treasure. You can even donate it to charity – whatever you do, just try to consider the consequences of your consumption. It’s really not that hard to do, is it?
…and while you’re here, why not click through to ourswaps.com to swap something. You never know, you might get something cool in return…..