On Sunday a group called the Freegans held one of their “Free markets” where anyone can bring anything they want and take anything they want for free. They hold it in the basement of a church on Washington Square Park.
When I pick up litter, I find lots of stuff that people discard, often brand new. The pictures and video below show what I donated. I guess you could include it as one of my volunteer activities, but it doesn’t take extra time.
Many things still have tags on them, yet people still threw them away. I asked people there to wait to take things until I could take pictures, but it was hard to hold them back so I only took four quick pictures. In the video you can see people taking stuff. Everything below I found. I didn’t pay for any of it. It would be in a landfill. Instead, nearly everything was taken before I left.
It’s satisfying to see what I brought taken and used so fast. People were already wearing many of the articles of clothing I brought.
What’s wrong with our culture?
Maybe I should have inventoried it, but here are some things I see in the picture:
- Contact-less phone chargers
- Two pairs of women’s boots
- Women’s Birkenstock sandals
- A jigsaw puzzle
- A cell phone charger
- Children’s plush toys
- Deodorant
- Three umbrellas, all working
- About a dozen woman’s shirts
- A skirt
- Three yoga mats
- A denim jacket
- A few sweaters
- A few fall/winter coats
- A few pairs of men’s pants
- Some men’s shirts
- Some unused underwear, still in its packaging
- Popcorn
A bunch more.
I brought comparable amounts to their last Free Market and I expect I will at their next one too.
