Post by Category : US North Central

Block Club Chicago: Jefferson Park Couple Lets Their Front Yard ‘Go Wild,’ And They’re Not Alone

But beyond some fertilized bird poop, the pair looked to their friends, neighbors and Freecycle for plants needing a home. Freecycle is a network for neighbors to get (and give) away things they no longer need instead of throwing it out.

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Dubois County Free Press: New online community helps people share, recycle

new online community designed to help people share stuff for free was recently launched by a Huntingburg resident.

Andrea Himsel decided to create a local FreeCycle group to support the community. She moderates a group on the FreeCycle site called “Huntingburg FreeCycle” although posting on it isn’t limited just to Huntingburg area. All surrounding communities are welcome to become members and use the service.

“I’ll accept members from Dubois, Martin, Crawford, Pike, Daviess, Orange, Spencer, Warrick and Perry Counties,” Himsel said.

It’s just getting started so there aren’t a lot of members yet

FreeCycle is a nonprofit company that launched in 2003 to allow people to connect to share things — household items, advice or help — for free with some semblance of anonymity if so desired.

According to the company’s website, the founder hit upon the idea of the online community while working for a nonprofit that helped businesses recycle unwanted items and equipment. He and other members of the team would approach various local nonprofits to see if they could use the items. They then decided to take the idea of sharing online and launched Freecycle.org through an e-mail group.

Himsel experienced first hand how helpful FreeCycle was to her when she headed to Indiana University after graduating from Jasper High School. She was attracted to using the service because of the recycling it helped to foster but also out of her own personal needs.

“Struggling financially and supporting myself while attending IU, I posted, ‘Wanted: Hard-boiled egg cooker,’” she explained. “I did not get a cooker, but some responses said, ‘Hey, you can just boil them in a regular pot!’”

Seems helpful but then she didn’t have any pots. However, that was remedied quickly with a couple more posts on the Bloomington FreeCycle page.

With pots in hand and eggs boiled, Himsel saw the benefit of the community.

“It was my first apartment my sophomore year and I spent a lot of money buying my textbooks so I started from scratch with my kitchenware,” she explained. “FreeCycle really made it a little easier after being shell-shocked moving from Jasper to Bloomington and experiencing homesickness.”

In addition to pots and pans, Himsel was able to find measuring spoons, dishes and other items needed for someone just getting started on her own as well as a trashcan for a friend. “The majority of what I asked for I received from like-minded people,” she said adding that wasting or trashing something should be a last resort. “Many things can be salvaged and made to look like new again with a little TLC.”

FreeCycle is similar to the free classifieds on Craigslist. It works well because it is moderated and with email, communication is a cinch. “No one will know your real name — only your email address and FreeCycle username — or your address unless you reveal it to them,” Himsel explained.

After becoming a member, you post an “Offer” of something to get for free and meet with a person who requests your item in a mutual location (such as at a park or another public place). Then, when you want to request something, you post a “Wanted” message for all the group’s members and, if someone has that item available, they can send you a message letting you know and you arrange pickup of the item.

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Muncie Star Post: Get Up and Grow: Build your garden with reclaimed materials

For people at home, curb alerts and “free stuff” message boards offer an abundance of materials for a range of projects. Sites such as Craigslist, Facebook, Freecycle and the newspaper provide a space for people to offer free items to those who may want it. Free lumber, glass, bricks and other leftover or old materials are available within a short distance of where you sit now.

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Patch.com: How To Get Rid Of Christmas Trees In North Potomac

If you have an artificial tree, request a bulk trash pickup. If your artificial Christmas tree is still in usable condition, consider offering it for reuse on your neighborhood email list, Craigslist, your local Freecycle group, or similar places.

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Massillon Independent: PROGRESS 2015: Freecycle networks help dole out free stuff

`Freecycle networking connects people from all over the world. It’s a grassroots and nonprofit effort in which people give and receive merchandise for free.

Some say it’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by area volunteers.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

There are thousands of locally run, grassroots freecycling groups worldwide. Once you join a local group or start one, posts can be created for items to give away. Here’s how to advertise an item:

• First, you need something to scrap, such as a bike.

• Instead of throwing it away, do an online search and join a local freecycling group. Access a website, such as www.trashnothing.com, to conduct a search.

• Create a new “offer” post that is sent to the group and seen by all of the group members. SAMPLE OFFER: Mountain bike (in Massillon) I have an old blue mountain bike available. It could use some oil and the tires are a bit worn but it’s a great starter bike.

• Group members interested in your bike will contact you privately.

• You choose which person you would like to give the bike to.

• Between you and the selected recipient, a time and place are arranged for picking up the bike.

• The bike is picked up, and you let everyone in your network know that the bike is no longer available by sending a “taken” post.

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Detroit News: Welcome Mat: Home news and notes

Million dollar question for sewing fans: What to do with leftover fabric

A great question surfaced at Homestyle’s first Dish & Design event about getting organized in the New Year: What do you do with leftover fabric when you’ve finished a project? Some sewers keep the fabric in bins. But once you have plenty of leftover fabric, then what? Brenda Rogerson, education director for the American Sewing Expo in Novi, recommends Freecycle.org. Freecyle is a forum where anyone can post or inquire about items that they’re trying to pass on. For example, Rogerson says Freecycle is where a lot of folks “who sew for animal rescues know to check here for their supplies,” she writes in an email. “I also had someone say they would take fabric scraps to nursing homes for craft projects. I believe some quilt guilds and churches also take donations, but I do not have a specific list.” This year’s American Sewing Expo is scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi.

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Wisconsin Gazette:Greening The Holidays: Reuse, recycle, repurpose

Donate rather than discard items. When new gifts replace working but old possessions, donate them to a charitable cause or give them away. Check out the Freecycle network at Freecycle.org..

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Western Courier: EarthFest teaches sustainability

The Freecycle station was a huge hit. Freecycle promotes the idea of recycling items by donating them to others, rather than throwing them out, and encourages individuals to be conscious of what they throw away. The Freecycle station at EarthFest held many treasures from clothes to light bulbs. Although EarthFest is only done once a year, there is a McDonough County Freecycle Network located at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mcdonoughcoilFreecycle/info.

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Indiana Gazette: EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE

FIND FREE STUFF: The website Free Cycle.org is a great resource to find free furniture and all kinds of items in your local area. If you have usable items that you don’t want or need anymore, instead of filling up the landfills, post them on FreeCycle and let someone else take the item for free! Anyone is welcome to sign up and post or to take free items. —

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Choteau Acantha: Local Freecycle Network looking for participants

The Teton County Freecycle.org group matches people who have things they need to get rid of with people who can use them.

It is another spoke in the wheel that supports the local community, another tool in Linda Sentz’ toolbox. Sentz is a board member of both the Teton County Food Pantry and Neighbors Helping Neighbors organization, both organizations that give a helping hand to those people in need. She said that only 40 people are in the Freecycle group and she would like to see that doubled or tripled.

The national Freecycle Network has a goal of keeping usable items out of landfills, but a “wanted” or an “offer” posting on the Teton County recycle webpage might fulfill a basic need for a refrigerator or other appliance, for example, Sentz said.

The Internet listings help people give unwanted items to someone else for free. Freecycle creates a circle of giving rather than items discarded. To join the Teton County Freecycle group, sign up at www.freecycle.org.

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