Dump old furniture

When I was a college student, and an English major at that, my apartment was furnished with mostly overturned cardboard boxes and plastic milk crates, unless we got lucky and found a couch on the side of the street. While it was easy to move between apartments, it was difficult to entertain friends and family with milk crate seating and cardboard end tables. So we eventually had to move on and get real furniture. And then, as soon as we can afford furniture that we’re not ashamed of, we have to get rid of the furniture that we are ashamed of. If you’re at that point, then this article is for you.

There are better ways to get rid of unwanted furniture than by chucking it off a cliff Arlo-Guthrie style, filling up landfills, and generally killing the whales (and whatever it lands on). And we don’t want to kill those whales. Also, furniture sucks to move. And there are better options available for getting rid of home furnishings than just tossing them in the backyard and waiting for that next tornado to get rid of it. In fact, there are a lot of ecologically friendly, cheap, and easy ways to get rid of that old stuff. Some of them can even be tax deductible. And you won’t be killing the whales. It’s win-win: tax write offs and you get rid of the extra garbage around the house.

Courtesy first when donating furniture.

The words “donate” and “dump” are not interchangeable. If you donate your old household furnishings, be sure they are clean and in good working order. Make sure your furniture does not have rips, tears, “friskiness” stains, odors, pet hair, burns, wobbly bits, splinters, graffiti, or the like. However, some nonprofits have refurbishing available for any “well-loved” pieces of furniture. Just be sure to ask before dropping off an unusable piece of furniture.

Best Ways to Get Rid of Old Furniture

Get rid of furniture by donating it to a charity or nonprofit. There are millions of local, state, and national charities or nonprofits that you can donate your furniture to. Consider donating to your church, or any church, to Goodwill, The Salvation Army, a senior citizen center, or a local charity, like Bridging (see conclusion for link) in MN. These pieces are redistributed in the community and often go to victims of fires, natural disasters, domestic violence, or other tragedies. Depending on who you donate it to, it may be tax deductible or even picked up curbside. Just be sure that the furniture is clean and in good condition.