Some friends gave us a refrigerator about 10 years ago when they were moving to a new house.  It really wasn’t much of a refrigerator, even back then, but it fit nicely in the laundry room.  We used it mostly for beer and sodas, and the top freezer helped with the overflow from the main fridge in the kitchen.

A few weeks ago it started getting very noisy and then Debra noticed that the freezer wasn’t keeping things frozen.  It got to making more noise and the louder it got the warmer it got until it wasn’t keeping my sodas very cool, either.  Debra emptied it and I started looking for a way to get rid of the thing.

My first thought was recycling.  The Williamson County recycling facility takes appliances, but refrigerators and other appliances that contain or contained freon must be accompanied by a certificate showing that the freon has been recovered.  So I’d have to take it to a shop, pay somebody to recover the freon, and then haul it to the recycling center.

I was about to break down and pay to have the thing hauled off when somebody suggested that I post it on craigslist.  That worked great.  Sunday afternoon I posted a note in the Free Stuff section, describing the refrigerator’s condition and offering it free to the first person who came to haul it off.  I got a call within an hour, and 30 minutes after that the refrigerator was gone.  Works for me.

I’m sold.  Next time I need to get rid of something, I’ll know to try craigslist first thing.