Tag Archives: free

Free Hyenas. FREE!

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hyenasI know people who will take anything – anything at all – if it is free, even if they have no possible use for it. I once had a tenant who lived near a glass store. When the store threw out broken window glass, he would bring the stuff home. Eventually my yard was full of broken glass. Some of the glass panes were huge and obviously came from store windows. This guy also brought home a lot of other useless stuff. One time he brought home 50 old railroad ties and stacked them up in the front yard. The pile was 7 feet high. Railroad ties should never be reused. They are preserved with creosote, a carcinogenic chemical. I asked my tenant: “Why did you bring these railroad ties here?” He said: “They were free!”

U.C. Berkeley is giving away hyenas, and they have a lot of them. Hyenas are nasty, vicious animals. They cannot be trained or domesticated. A hyena can kill an animal 4 times its own size and can eat 30 pounds of raw meat in 10 minutes. A hyena may not seem like the ideal pet, but if you want one, they are available, and they are free. FREE! If you want a free hyena and have a good home for it, contact the U.C. Berkeley Hyena Project at the Field Station For Animal Behavior. It is near the botanical garden on Gayley Road.

Free Electronics Waste Disposal.

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The end of the school year will soon be here. If you are moving out at the end of May, now is the time to get rid of your junk. Students often put off getting rid of their junk until the last minute, and they always wind up regretting that. Getting rid of old electronics is a good place to start, but it is illegal to put electronic products in your garbage can. If a garbage collector finds an electronic product in your garbage can, you can get a $500 fine. This is not one of those crazy Berkeley laws that nobody enforces, although we have lots of those. This is a California state law, and it is enforced. People really do get fined for putting electronic waste in their garbage cans.

Fortunately, you can get rid of your electronic junk for free! At the Green Citizen store at 1971 Shattuck Avenue, near the corner of University Avenue, you can drop off most electronic products including TVs, computers, monitors, printers, DVD players, microwave ovens, etc. at no charge. They also accept for free disposal many small electrical appliances, like dorm refrigerators. Most of the dumps in this area charge $50 or more to drop off a small refrigerator. They have to drain out and recycle the Freon, and that costs money, but Green Citizen takes small refrigerators at no charge. This is a great service! You should use it. You’re paying for it. When you buy an electronic product in California, you pay an electronic disposal tax ranging from $6 to $10 for any item with a screen or electronic display, like a DVD player. That money goes to places like Green Citizen, which is how they finance their business.

Free Newspapers

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Don’t let free newspapers accumulate in your yard. The San Francisco Chronicle is publishing a weekend edition of their newspaper and delivering it to nearly every house in Berkeley and Oakland. From what I can see, few people want or read this newspaper. When you see unwanted newspapers on your porch or in your yard, pick them up immediately and put them in your trash can. Although they may not look like it, free newspapers are a safety hazard. Burglars look for newspapers piling up in people’s yards. It’s evidence that nobody is home. Check your porch and front yard regularly. Remove things that might give passers-by the impression that you are on vacation or that the house is vacant: advertising flyers, pizza door hangers, phone books, empty cans and bottles, as well as free newspapers and magazines. Its dangerous to give passers-by with the impression that nobody is home.