BUCKFIELD – Linda Paxman loves sending gifts to her four grandchildren in Missouri. She doesn’t get to see them much and the care packages are a way to keep in touch, to help out her son and daughter-in-law.

But shipping is expensive and so are presents. Paxman, a retired nurse, can’t afford to splurge.

So when the Buckfield grandmother wanted to pick up some gifts on a recent morning, she drove to the town transfer station.

Or, more accurately, the transfer station’s official swap shop, a clean, organized thrift-store-like area stocked with clothes, housewares, electronics and miscellany.

“You can get stuff for free,” she said after finding a handful of like-new children’s books and a toy train. “Great stuff.”

Trash picking, Dumpster diving, recycling – whatever you call it, getting free stuff from the dump isn’t new. For decades, many towns have given residents a place to set aside used bikes, unwanted furniture and other still-useable items for other people to take. Usually, the set-aside areas were small and the items limited.

But in recent years, as dump areas (now solid waste facilities and transfer stations) look to cut the cost of trash disposal, lower their impact on the environment and help out residents, those set-aside areas have exploded into full-sized, free-for-the-taking swap shops offering everything from tableware to kitchen sinks in which to wash them.

Donors say swap shops help them cut down on clutter and give new life to stuff they don’t want. Shoppers say it helps them get items they couldn’t otherwise afford.

And business is booming.

‘Wal-Mart store’

In 2006, the last year state figures were available, 137 of Maine’s 308 dump stations gave away nearly 4,000 tons of stuff. Skowhegan redistributed the most, 271 tons. Smaller towns gave away between half a ton and a few dozen tons.

Sabattus’ transfer station gave away an estimated 24 tons. Two years later, demand has forced the town to build a bigger swap shop.

“More people seem to be looking at it, stopping more. It’s popular,” said Jerry Sabins, transfer station manager. “They call it their Wal-Mart store. A lot of residents say, ‘I’m going to Wal-Mart today.'”

Located on transfer station grounds, the Sabattus swap shop offers mostly clothes and household goods. Toys and baby items are most popular, but people have also snapped up fishing gear, house steps, a canoe. Weekends, the place is hopping.

Sabins believes the shop will only get busier.

“I think people are going to use it more and be looking more, with the heating situation and everything,” he said. “You know, everybody’s cutting corners.”

The Buckfield-Sumner Transfer Station swap shop wasn’t around for the 2006 survey. It opened in a 20-foot shipping container in August 2007, then added a 40-foot container this spring. Now both are full.

The shop accepts pretty much everything. Its oddest acquisitions include a pair of stilts and an ebony walking cane, both of which found new homes. Recent offerings included two porcelain sinks, several bowling balls and a Zip drive and golf bag that both looked new.

The same day Paxman stopped by, Steve Borstelmann of Sumner dropped off a leather jacket that no longer fit him and a series of Superman videos, collector’s edition.

“It’s hard enough making the decision to get rid of something. It’s really hard to throw things out,” he said. “It’s much nicer to know someone else is getting it.”

Officials estimate the towns save a couple of thousand dollars a year by giving the stuff away rather than paying someone to cart it off.

Waste not

Not every town has a full-fledged swap shop. Lisbon and Jay, for example, have small, outside areas set aside for drop-offs, but nothing formal.

“We just call it ‘the area.’ If it looks recyclable, put it out there,” said Wayne Ricker, Lisbon transfer station director.

Poland used to have a swap shop – called the Waste Not Mall – but the town dismantled it several years ago when people ditched their junk there to get out of paying disposal fees to the dump.

“It was sort of a free-for-all,” said Dana Lee, Poland town manager.

The town would like to re-establish the Waste Not Mall but doesn’t have the staff to watch over it, Lee said.

Some towns get around that problem by staffing their swap shops with volunteers. Others make rules: no tires, TVs or other items people would normally pay to throw out.

That rule so far has worked for Gray. Randy Cookson, Gray’s solid waste director, estimated the town gives away about 60 tons of books, bikes, dishes and other items every year, saving it about $12,000 in annual disposal costs.

The town’s small, outside swapping has grown so popular that it’s moving into a building early next year.

“A lot of people, that’s what they look forward to when they come here – just to pick through the stuff to see what they can find,” Cookson said.

 

What you should know:

• Not every town has a swap shop or a special area for free items. Check with your town.

• Swap shops are usually open to town residents only.

• Different towns have different rules regarding which items are acceptable.

• Swap shops want donations to be clean and useable. If it’s broken beyond repair, stained or ripped, throw it out.

• Everything is free. You haul it away.

• Hours are usually limited. Call ahead.

Want to give away something but your town has no swap shop? Try:

• Local churches

• Nonprofit organizations and charities, such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army

• www.freecycle.org (Learn more about freecycling in the Sun Journal b section Sunday)