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How to survive moving season

By Megan Rupp

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

1. Start, stop or transfer utility services online

Many residents have chosen to take advantage of the convenience of online services. Last year online activity increased from 405 transactions in June to 1,384 in July, revealing later summer months as peak moving time Gilliland said. To manage your water services go to www.lawrenceks.org/utility_billing/.

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Photo by Ryan Waggoner

2. Recycle electronic goods

The city will hold the Lawrence Electronic Recycling Event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. October 23 at Free State High School, 4700 Overland Drive. Gilliland encouraged residents to take advantage of the opportunity to recycle old computers, printers, stereos, microwaves and other used electronics. There is a $10 charge to recycle computer monitors and a $15 fee for televisions. All other goods are free.

3. Have bulky items picked up

“It’s pretty popular because it’s an easy way to get rid of otherwise cumbersome things like couches and TVs,” Gilliland said. The best option for large items that are no longer usable is to call Solid Waste at (785) 832-3030.

4. Hold a moving sale or donate to charities

Usable goods do not need to be thrown away in the mayhem of moving. If you don’t have the time to hold a moving sale, or if you have items left over, you can donate to various charities in Lawrence. The Salvation Army Thrift Store, 1601 W. 23rd St., accepts clothing, rugs, bedding, pillows and other small goods. Call (785) 856-1115 to donate.

Tina Hernandez, manager of the thrift store, said the store would be happy to take anything except baby items.

“We haven’t seen too many students. We’re still trying to get our store out there and noticed by them,” Hernandez said. “But overall this is still one of the best times of year for us because it’s garage sale season, so we see a lot of that overflow coming in, which is very helpful.”

Friends of the Lawrence Public Library also accepts donations of gently used books, CDs or videos. Call Friends coordinator Ruth DeWitt at (785) 843-3833 to donate.

5. Bicycle donations

Unwanted bicycles can be dropped off at the Street Maintenance Division, 1120 Haskell Avenue, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Call (785) 832-3031.

Donating used bicycles can be helpful during move-out time, but it also serves a greater purpose. Gilliland said that once about 50 bikes have been collected, they are moved to Lansing Correctional Facility.

“The prisoners at the facility refurbish them and then they’re donated back into the Lansing community,” Gilliland said.

Each year Lawrence residents donate 100 or more bicycles to the program, Gilliland said.

— Kirsten Kwon contributed to the reporting of this story.

Comments

How to survive moving season

I got a free couch!

How to survive moving season

The most important thing that people look over before moving into a place is to ask the landlord for references from current and previous tenants. If a landlord is not willing to give you a couple of testimonials or let you ask current residents on how the landlord handles different situations then you may want to look elsewhere. It is unfortunate to live in a town like Lawrence where landlords think they have so much power and try to force tenants into less than favorable situations.

Sure the deals look good like Williams Pointe and Leanna Mar offer a free 42" tv in every townhouse, but when something goes wrong like an appliance breaks it takes weeks to get addressed or with Gage management that says they will send a repairman in an hour but they decide to dispatch the next day.

Students need to look into the Kansas Tenant rights handbook and read it so they can tell when a landlord is taking advantage of them and stop it from happening.

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