Low-impact living by Jane Powers
One of my many embarrassing moments as an adolescent involved pretending not to know my father as he rummaged through a skip outside a drapery - a little scene that was played out in full view of Mrs Mooney, behind the counter in the next shop.
However, 30 years later, I am my father's daughter, with a house full of skip-harvested items: a sturdy green filing cabinet winnowed from an office clear-out; a garden table plucked from outside a well-to-do property in Dalkey; a plant stand rescued from a shop in Dún Laoghaire; a chest of drawers gleaned from I can't remember where - and dozens of other invaluables saved from the trip to the rubbish tip.
Not having children of my own, I can forage freely in skips. But for parents who don't wish to mortify their offspring - yet want to keep good things from going into landfill - the internet offers several solutions. is a free-to-join, web-based outlet for "givers" and "takers" throughout the country. Instead of flinging something in a skip, or hauling it to the dump, members post details of the item on the website (www.jumbletown.ie) along with their general location.
Everything is organised into categories: home, computers and communications; sound and vision; DIY; sport; transport; farm; miscellaneous; and so on. Those interested in receiving, for instance (and these are examples from recent posts), a pine table and chairs; a rabbit hutch; 20 popular fiction books; a Bart Simpson pinball machine; or some American football gear, can contact the giver and arrange a transfer of goods. A "wanted items" section lists requests for a tank for a spider or lizard; a Honda 50, and old Beano comics or annuals.
JumbleTown is completely non-commercial, as is Freecycle (www.freecycle.org), an international network of people exchanging things via the internet. At the time of writing there are 2,436,670 members in 3,722 communities in 78 countries, including 16 in Ireland.
Cheapcycle is yet another resource, and offers the chance to see a little monetary return for your nearly complete collection of Friends videos, old-but-seaworthy sailboard, or PlayStation 2 (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CheapcycleIreland).
These sites, I've noticed, are quite good for shifting or getting babies' and children's necessities. Just don't let the kids see you rooting through cyberspace.