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  • What to do with old appliances?

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  • I just got a new slow cooker, because my old one ran too hot and was thus useless. However, it's still working. My walking buddy told me she has a big pile of non-functional or partially functional household appliances in her basement. It's so painful to throw away, say, a toaster whose timer has conked out, or an alarm clock that still runs but the alarm doesn't work. Any ideas? Are there charities that accept this sort of thing as fixit projects, for example?

    2 0
    Question by mollyavalon
    12/08/2011

Freecycle.

Answer by christopher
12/09/2011

I wish Big Box stores had a drop-off box for unwanted household tools, along with a tag for the donor to write down what was wrong with the item. (And maybe give contact info too--optional.) Retirees with fixit skills (and/or boy scouts?) could then tackle them as hobbyist projects, maybe in a central location where spare parts are kept. (Manuals could be accessed there online.)

The fixed items could then be donated to Goodwill, or sent abroad (to places with 120 volt power). Or the fixers could keep some of their output, and trade them among themselves. Or sold on eBay. Or . . .

Unfixable items could be kept in reserve for cannibalization.

To avoid legal liabilities, the govt. would probably need to back this in a big way.

Answer by roger knights
04/11/2014
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