I prefer my oranges straight from the skin or with extra pulp; and to buy my toilet paper single-ply, from 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and not individually wrapped. I am also not one to let free things go to waste. There is plenty more where these items came from. Our neighbor decided to move across town and get rid of a year’s supply of toilet paper, couple cans of juice, hours of Stravinsky and his musical brothers, our new living room lamp, and a bottle of rum.

What we did not want we took to Goodwill. I sometimes think of the small change we could make if we were to sell some of the things we get but then those items wouldn’t be going to the people who need them most. Then again, I wish there was a single place, or website, we could go to ensuring us that who really needed something was the one getting it. There are websites where you can buy things for you or as gifts to family and friends, and gifts are given to those in need.

Some of those websites are for bicycles and shoes. Others are e-cards that give goats and airline miles that go towards sick children. TerraCycle and greenopolis will give money towards homes and schools that recycle certain products. You can share a car or your home or swap with someone else. And you can either give things to your neighbors or let them borrow them. Possibilities for free or cheap and kind gifts are endless. When is the last time you gave without expecting something in return?