{"id":40058,"date":"2013-06-25T00:09:12","date_gmt":"2013-06-25T07:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=40058"},"modified":"2013-06-25T00:09:12","modified_gmt":"2013-06-25T07:09:12","slug":"free-things-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/40058","title":{"rendered":"Free Things Box"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tAn entry in the recent Instructables Green Design Contest<\/a> caught my eye:<\/p>\n

\"giving_back_free_things_box1\"

Photo courtesy of IamWe via http:\/\/www.instructables.com\/id\/The-Free-Things-Box\/<\/p><\/div>\n

This simple little stroke of genius<\/p>\n

(and generosity)<\/p>\n

is just the sort of gesture we can all accomplish with just a dash of creativity and community spirit.<\/p>\n

It’s called a Free Things Box.<\/p>\n

The box’s inventor, a Dutch fellow named Berto, designed his freebie box to be placed in a person’s front yard or in a central location within a neighborhood.<\/p>\n

What goes in it?<\/p>\n

Small items that are no longer wanted by their owners but are still useful.<\/p>\n

Think books, tools, toys, DVDs, garden seeds, fabric scraps, knick-knacks, etc.<\/p>\n

“You can arrange with residents of the street that they can also put freebies in the box,” says Berto. “More people become aware to keep things out of the trash and from the landfill.”<\/p>\n

Neighbors can add or take anything they want as long as they follow these simple rules:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The box is only open during daytime hours.<\/li>\n
  2. Take only things you can use.<\/li>\n
  3. Take one thing at a time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In Berto’s video (below), he shows how to make a sturdy weatherproof (and vandalism proof) box, complete with a “window for a quick look.”<\/p>\n

    Do you think this would work in your neighborhood? I’m definitely getting a box going here at the farm.<\/p>\n