Givmo.com is a free service for environmentally conscious people to list and give-away items they no longer need or use. Thankfully, only a small percentage of people can be considered clinical "hoarders", but most of us can relate to the problem. We tend to accumulate a lot of stuff in our lives, and the fact is, a lot of our purchases end up being replaced or forgotten over time. This leaves us with the problem of what to do with those items.


For those of us who are a little closer to the clinical definition of a hoarder (it's ok, I won't tell!), part of the issue may be denial. We keep things that have sentimental value, or that we know we might need or use, despite months or years of sitting in storage. Eventually, or with enough spousal nagging, there comes a time to clear out the closets and make space for more relevant items.


For Dustin Byrne, Givmo founder and software engineer, frequent moves brought this issue to his attention. After graduating college, like many, he moved and changed jobs frequently. All of that moving made him acutely aware of the boxes of stuff that never got opened or used over the course of several moves. He cared about these items enough to carry them from place to place, but there was no denying the fact that he never actually used or needed them. In thinking of what to do with these once-valuable items, the idea for Givmo occurred to him.

According to Byrne the premise behind Givmo.com is that most people would be happy to give away their stuff, as long as it's going to someone who will appreciate it. Waste is a huge problem in modern society, and most people don't want to throw away perfectly functioning products. Selling stuff online can be a hassle and take months to find a buyer, and giving away a box full of used items at GoodWill can be inconvenient or too impersonal. Givmo finds the perfect balance of convenience and personal interaction with the item's receiver.

So far, the startup hasn't made enough to pay Byrne's bills, but he has high hopes for the future. People are using Givmo, and as word spreads, the team has every confidence that it will become a successful enterprise. Not only does the service allow people to clear out their garages of unused junk, but they also get peace of mind, knowing that their belongings are going to people who want and will use them, as opposed to sitting in a junkyard somewhere.

Users can post their items for free on Givmo.com. The developers at the company were able to work out a deal with UPS, to provide free shipping labels for people posting their items. Shoppers can choose from the free items listed, and are only responsible for paying the shipping rates. A small portion of the shipping cost goes to Givmo which is used for the site's upkeep, and another portion goes to charity.