Re: Stories from your Community | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com) | |
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2002 10:28:01 -0600 (MDT) |
on 8/16/2002 11:26 AM, Mary Kraus at mkraus [at] krausfitch.com wrote: > 1. A clothing exchange area (an area to leave clothes or other items you > don't want, and to pick up same). We have a swap table where we leave all sorts of items. It includes an active circulation of paperback mysteries. They appear and reappear a few months later until they fall apart. After Christmas lots of things appear that are obviously white elephant gifts and brand new. Things I've picked up are: Wind chimes -- new. Set of large baskets that fit inside one another -- later found to have been thrown out by a wife who finally refused to have them in her house because they had been given to her husband by a former lover. Two new drawer organizers that I now use to organize my paint jars. Several small vases Stone coasters from Indiana Small wooden boxes of various sizes -- I use to sort art supplies New items like glue tips, picture hangers, frames, battery testers. Lots of pure silk blouses, ties, for an eventual silk quilt. Pure linen & pure cotton to remade into clothing Things I've put there -- paperback books, cassette tapes, ice cube trays, scarves, T-shirts that are too small for me, new wool socks I've finally given up on every wearing, extra can openers, extra sheets, extra blankets, new shoes never worn, -- Mostly stuff that is new but I've been moving around with me and never used. Too good to throw out but not really needed. Most of what I pick up is new. Clothes are just old styles which doesn't mean anything to me as long as the material is good. I cut them up and remake them. > 2. Any interesting sharing of items, such as several households buying a > camper or boat together. What I've started doing is buying items for the commonhouse or common use that I want and find on sale. Then I charge for the first uses until I'm paid back. I just bought a rock polisher I found on sale for $50. I put out an email that the first 10 times people use it, they need to pay me $5. Then it belongs to the workshop crafts corner. This is much faster than asking if anyone wants something and then collecting the money. I take a risk of paying for the item myself but if I really want it it is worth the risk -- and if I wait, the sale item will be gone. One of our members lost a baby (one of twins at 7 days old) in January. She set up a memorial fund to benefit our playground. We just purchased a basketball hoop and will be redoing the younger kids playground in the spring. spring. > 3. Special bulk buying arrangements. When we moved in one member negotiated a discount on blinds. He shopped for the best prices and service then negotiated the deal. We all ordered individually and also let the installers in to units when people were at work. We all got blinds within about 2 weeks. We tried ordering food in bulk but members felt it was in competition with the local food coop so it wasn't repeated. Several members did participate in a CSA but it was not a well organized one and too hard to pick up and distribute the food. In the fall I will be organizing a group purchase of wrapping paper and ribbon plus jewelry boxes, packing paper, etc. from a wholesale catalog. Some will order for gifts but we have several crafts people who will order more for their small businesses. On Fridays I order pizza and charge $2 a slice (1/8 of an extra large with several toppings) in the commonhouse. I also purchase soda & juice. It has worked out very well and has become a staple. August means 3-4 pizzas, winter months are up to 8. Pizza is delivered. I order and handle all the financing which means I pay for left over pizza (and end up eating it so I only order toppings I will eat). We do vegan, vegetarian, and meat lovers. We actually do a lot of shared buying. People put out a notice on email and organize those who are interested. > Movie night at the common house. We try these and recently got cable tv in the commonhouse but for some reason these have not taken off. Perhaps our facilities are not good for comfortable viewing. We limit them to the living room and it is small. If we could view in the dining room it would be better -- more space and room for children to play to the side. > Centralized recycling facilities. We are a condo so we have bins for trash, newspaper and cardboard, and mixed glass, plastic, and tin. As well as a junk mail recycling bin under the mail boxes. We also have bike storage but need much more. A continuing discussion -- to build another structure on a small plot or not. Sharon -- Sharon Villines Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC http://www.takomavillage.org _______________________________________________ Cohousing-L mailing list Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org Unsubscribe and other info: http://www.communityforum.net/mailman/listinfo/cohousing-l
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Stories from your Community Mary Kraus, August 16 2002
- Re: Stories from your Community Sharon Villines, August 16 2002
- RE: _Stories from your Community Robyn, August 27 2002
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