LOTS OF FREE STUFF: How about getting and giving stuff free. The Freecycle Network is made up of nearly five thousand groups and nearly 70-thousand members around the world who are getting and giving away stuff free. Membership is free It’s a great way to recycle, get rid of items you don’t want, and get things you do.
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That homily, long a mainstay in the Pennywise universe, popped into mind recently when I discovered Freecycle. Over the course of a few weeks this summer, I obtained a paper shredder, a 28-inch Sanyo television, a VCR/DVD player with its original remote and manual, a like-new Indian cookbook, and a beautiful mahogany bookcase. All of them were free. All I had to do was pick them up.
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That borders on impossible, but borrowing and looking for freebies on exchanges sites, such as Freecycle, is a good place to start. Friday morning, an unused box spring, a swing set and lots of toys topped the Columbia Freecycle Yahoo Group, which has more than 4,000 members. Freecycle helps save money and promote reuse, but it still promotes consumption.
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www.freecycle.org
Amount saved: £119.99
I originally joined Freecycle as a student, but years later, I keep finding myself logging on. Freecycle is an online community that matches people who have items they want to get rid of to people who can use them. Not only is it kind on the environment by reducing landfill, but it is great for the pocket, too.
I recently set up my home office and turned to this site for much needed furniture. After a quick scan through the posts from members who are offering goods for grabs, I was able to get my hands on a Verner swivel chair from Ikea, which normally retails at £65, and a two-drawer metal filing cabinet, which is currently on sale at Argos for £54.99.
And as one of the main rules of Freecycle is a “pick up yourself” policy, your local group is a handy way of getting rid of large items you would normally have to pay to have removed, such as unwanted furniture or mattresses.
With almost 500 groups across the country and more than 1.7 million members, there is really something for everyone on this website and best of all, membership is free.
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I’ve mentioned Freecycle before but a refresher is in order with school needs presenting soon.
First what is Freecycle?
1. It’s absolutely free to join.
2. Here’s a nugget description from their site:
The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,834 groups with 7,341,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!
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As more of us try to concoct ways to become more “green” or “sustainable,” one of the most tried and true methods to reduce one’s carbon output is to just not buy new items in the first place. It’s easy to focus on solar panels, composting bins, double-paned windows, or weatherizing your home. But if more of us would be content using used products, that alone would make a huge step in reducing the depletion of our resources.
Freecycle and Intuit are onto something. Freecycle, the global recycling and repurposing network that has 7 million users (or “reusers”?), and Intuit, the personal finance software company, have partnered to launch Freecycle@Work, a free online application for anyone to access when establishing Freecycle programs at their companies and educating coworkers about reuse.
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It comes to my e-mail twice a day, a listing of what is needed and what is free to a good home on a particular day in a particular corner of the world. Offer: pine cones, toothbrushes and free samples. Wanted: car seat/booster seat. Offer: size 7 1/2 women’s shoes, two pairs.
This is Freecycle, an often whimsical, poetically perfect, 7-year-old Arizona-born recycling/sharing concept that has spread to 4,629 communities encompassing 6 million members in the United States and 85 other countries.
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“We’ve had all kinds of interesting posts,” said Katherine Wilson-Thompson, who owns the Bristol Freecycle group. “It could be anything – a box of bolts or broken colored glass. I got an industrial paper shredder.”
The Bristol VA/TN Freecycle Network is a local version of the group that boasts 1,900 members. Wilson-Thompson, who founded the group in 2004, said a lot of the stuff posted on the Bristol Freecycle group, which is hosted on Yahoo! Groups, is used clothes or furniture, but sometimes group members post “a lot of odd stuff, too.”
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Freecycle.org is an online network where people can give away or find free stuff in their local neighborhood. It is a great way to recycle items — like the jewelry boxes — to a local thrift store, a crafter or a teacher.
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