It's better to give - but how?

You'd think it would be easy to give away things you don't want or need, but that's not necessarily so.

I'm sitting here looking at two glass pitchers that I no longer have room for. Neither has sentimental attachments, so this would be a good opportunity to find them a new home.

But where?

Goodwill doesn't pick up donations, and it's difficult for me to take my things to them. The Salvation Army accepts only clothes and furniture. That excludes pitchers - and crystal goblets, brass sconces, vases, garden tools, assorted knickknacks, and a waffle iron.

So I seem to have four choices: Find a charity that can use my castoffs, locate individuals who want them, wait until spring and give up some weekends to take the things to a suburban flea market, or toss them out.

The usual solution - a garage sale - isn't easy when you live in an 1880s urban row house. (No yard, no garage, not even a driveway.)

I have been toying with the idea of offering some things on eBay, the online auction site, but my experience with selling a dozen books through Amazon.com has shown me the pitfalls. You have to agree to mail the books quickly once they're sold, and you must come up with shipping boxes that are the right size. (No problem at first; not so easy after the seventh volume.)

Also, the items have to be worth more than the postage and aggravation it takes to get rid of them.

The simplest solution would be the trash can. But then my conscience whispers that "Waste not, want not" admonition that's been drilled into me since childhood.

Surely there's a solution that's mutually beneficial to me and others. I hope I find it soon.

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