“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”: STORAGE ROOM CLEANOUT IDEA

The problem for our association for a long time was how to know what was junk in our storage rooms that nobody wanted and what people still wanted saved. Some associations have brought everything out to the walkway and asked residents to return to their cubicles what they want. Then they have discarded what remained. This can be a mammoth undertaking, though. Residents have to be on hand, items to be saved (maybe heavy things) are moved twice, and the stuff remaining on the walkway has to be disposed of right away.

We think we have hit on a better way.

We have given all residents a sheet of blank decals, and there are extras in the storage room. The residents have a month to see that a decal with their unit number on it is affixed to any storage room item they want saved. They are urged, if physically able, to themselves remove anything they don’t want. At the end of the month, the more able-bodied among us will discard items that do NOT have a decal—plus, of course, any “community property” items such as the ladders, tools and boards.

Thus, the number of items having to be moved will be minimized, and we will be able to discard the throw-out items (anything without a decal) piecemeal—a few today, a few more tomorrow, more next week, etc.