3. Freecycle
It’s amazing how many people still aren’t aware of this tremendous resource. As with Craigslist, Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.net/) groups are located almost everywhere in the U.S. There are four types of posts: “Wanted” indicates you’re searching for an item; “Found” tells others you got what you wanted; “Offer” lets the group know what item you have to give away; and “Taken” informs the group you found a person who needed the item offered.
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What to do with the ’stuff’
Of course purging unwanted items causes the “Now what do I do with all this stuff?” problem. Here are some suggestions sent in by readers:
From Suzanne M. Sweeney of RE/MAX Benchmark Realty Group: Read your column today and you mentioned donating items. I use Freecycle, which is committed to recycling items and keeping them out of the landfill. You post pictures and descriptions of the items you want to give away, and if someone on the site needs it, they contact you and arrange to pick it up. There is no cost to either party, and you feel good knowing it is being used by someone who really needs it! Check out www.freecycle.org.
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Do you have good stuff you’d really like to just get rid of? Join Freecycle – a worldwide, non-profit movement to encourage reuse and keep good stuff out of landfills.
The idea: if you have something you can’t use anymore, why not just give it to someone who can?
The weekend of Feb. 12 and 13, Freecycle Wake County is holding a “Friendship and Sharing Weekend.” They want members to post as many OFFERS as they can. The group set a goal to reach 30,000 postings!
Membership is free, and there’s a lot of great stuff to get! But keep in mind, if you’re going to GET something, you’ve got to GIVE, too!
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You should give as well as receive
It’s crucial to remember it’s not about take, take, take. So remember…
“Freecycle is not just a source of freebies. The spirit is that it’s a recycling community, so you should give, as well as get.”
Advertising discarded items on Freecycle is also an excellent way to offload objects unsuitable for donating to charity shops (as many no longer take electrical goods or collect large items).
To be pedantic, Freecycle isn’t a website in its own right, it’s run via group emails, which are highly localised. This means you become a part of your area’s club.
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Then there’s the theory that for every new thing that comes into the house, one has to go out. I even read recently that we could improve on that by getting rid of two items for every new one. Imagine the impact Christmas could make on that. No, I think you just have to be more discriminating in your purchases, and get rid of the things you no longer like or use. If you have a collection of salt-and-pepper shakers that no longer makes your heart flutter with joy, don’t hang on to it and resent it. Open an Ebay account and sell it to collectors who will appreciate it. Or, if you’re not interested in making money from it, join Grimsbyfreecycle online and give your stuff away. Freecycle is designed for the exchange or donation of goods that are still too usable to take up room in the landfill, and can be useful to someone else. Go to the website or e-mail Grimsbyfreecycle-owner@yahoogroups.com.
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Blow your own trumpet
Fancy developing your musical side? Both Glasgow and Edinburgh have Freecycle schemes in operation (see www.uk.freecycle.org for details), so pick yourself up a cheap/free unwanted instrument, then haste yourself along to Glasgow’s Blochestra (Bloc Bar, 117 Bath Street, contact craig@unionofknives.com) to play for free in a hotch potch (but surprisingly tuneful) rock ensemble every Monday night. In Edinburgh give bric-a-brac haven Le Chariot Express (47 South Clerk Street) a try for a long-lost instrument, as well as almost anything else you’d care to find.
(Niki Boyle)
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How to donate
Drop your furniture into stores (if it’s a big piece, call ahead first). It can be hard to get charities to pick up furniture, so if this is what you want, your best bet is Freecycle.
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Check out options for household items such as furniture at www.freecycle.org.au, a community website dedicated to reducing waste to landfill.
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The event was in partnership with Freecycle, a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization that allows people who have unwanted items to go online and swap usable things to help keep stuff out of landfills.
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You can drop off the items and take other items left by people for free. You do have to bring items if you want to take items. Pima County Library representatives are asking that you bring items small enough for a person to carry away, and only bring items that are “useable and appropriate for gifting.”
The Holiday Swap is presented by the Freecycle Network – an internet-based exchange network that started in Tucson in 2003, and has spread nationally. Freeycle lets people “go green” – members post stuff to give away that would’ve otherwise wound up in a landfill.
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