Community Group Helps Give New Life to Old Clutter

Tired of walking past that old couch in the basement?

Need to get rid of those old toys or board games that have been gathering dust, but want to make sure they wind up in the hands of someone who can still make use of them?

Then stop by the “Take it or Leave it” shed, located on the Gedney Way Recycling Yard site at 87 Gedney Way in  White Plains. The shed, which is open Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, allows people to freecycle functional items.

Freecycling is the act offering and receiving free items for reuse or recycling.

“It’s been mind-blowing how busy we’ve been with all this heat,” Deborah von Glahn,  one of the volunteers at the shed, said Wednesday. “We’ve had a lot toys and indoor items come in. My theory is that people have been hunkering down, maybe going a little stir crazy inside their houses with air-conditioning, thinking ‘let me clean up some of those closets I never got around to’.”

The shed, in it’s third year of operation, is a partnership between the White Plains Department of Public Works and White Plains EcoNeighbors. EcoNeighbors is a group made up of White Plains volunteers committed to creating a sustainable ecology for the city.

The structure was built using recycled and refurbished material. For instance, the tin roof were found from somewhere further upstate and  the storage sheds used to store the items are old shipping containers.

The artwork on the front  of the shed was created by EcoNeighbor members.

“On average, we have four volunteers on-site when we’re open,” von Glahn said. “But that fluctuates. Sometimes it’s hard to get anybody.”

The shed contains everything from toys, “Buns of Steel” videos and audio cassettes to  golf clubs and barbells.

Volunteers said the most unusual thing that’s come in so far has been is a heated, portable indoor clothes dryer.

“Sometimes we get things and think no one is going to take this and somebody comes in and says ‘I’ve been looking for that’,” von Glahn said.

Furniture donations are also accepted thanks to a partnership with Furniture Sharehouse, an organization provides free furniture to economically disadvantaged individuals and families living in Westchester County. There’s a bin on the property where the furniture is stored until it’s picked up.