"Zu verschenken" in a box.

Sometimes, there are small changes happening - because of some reason or other. Sometimes, these are just delightful. One of them, which we speculate are due to the pandemic, is the "zu verschenken"-Box. Or, to be more precise, its rise in frequency - the box and the basic concept did exist pre-pandemic, but you can see them much more frequently now.

For those of you not familiar with this (and it might be a German thing, I don't know), "zu verschenken" means "free to a new home". So if you de-clutter your kitchen, or your living room, or whatever, and there are things you'd like to get rid of but that are too good to throw away, and yet not valuable enough that putting them on a portal like ebay would be worth it, and not copious enough to make for a table at a flea market, or or you are just too lazy for all of that.... there's a very quick and easy way to deal with them.

You take a large enough cardboard box and a thick sharpie and write "zu verschenken" on the box. Then you place all the things inside the box and put everything on the curb (preferably to the side, so that there's still space for traffic to pass by) or in a suitable similar place. If there's a lot of stuff, a table and a sign will work as well. If you're living in the end of a little-frequented cul de sac, it might be worth it to carry the box to the next street corner. 

This has been seen occasionally before the pandemic, but since that time period when everyone was cooped up inside and a lot of time was spent going through stuff... they have proliferated. There was a time when you'd see them at about every second street corner, and now they are still much more common a sight than just a few years ago. Much to my delight, because I love the idea of this very low-key exchange, and I enjoy looking at the things offered (even if it's clear from 10 m away that there's nothing for me in the pile), and quite often we've taken off with a thing or two from the box. Our cat litter bin, for instance. Some of our flower pots. A few kitchen items. 

Today we took a little walk and came home with another large flower pot - very timely, as one of the old ones broke just two days ago. And then, just at the street corner at the start of the cul de sac that we live in, there was another box... containing, among more kitchen equipment, glasses and cups.

Those were a very welcome surprise, as the Textile Forum will take place, and we'll be a few more people than the place usually handles (or houses), so glasses were a little scarce. With the glasses and cups donated by my friends and those from the box, though, we'll now be  more than comfortably equipped... and I suspect that if someone wants to take a cup home as a souvenir, that might also be possible.

So hooray for the "zu verschenken"-Box - one of the good things caused by the pandemic.