• regift unwanted items that are in good condition to others, donate them to charity shops, give them away on free sale sites like Freecycle or Freegle or on local Facebook groups, or take items that could be fixed to repair cafés and give them a new lease of life
‘The unit was a freebie from Freecycle,’ Kata tells us. This meant she had a little more to spend on accessories, like the showstopping high-end handles.
“From neighborhood thrift shops to vintage boutiques, almost every shop selling pre-loved items has baking and serving ware,” she said. “They can also be plentiful at flea markets and yard sales. Additionally, you can look at online marketplaces, Craigslist, other classifieds and ‘free stuff’ sites like freecycle.org. Lastly, hold on to baking ware you plan to replace — and you’ll be all set for your next potluck.”
Groups that promote gift-giving and exchanging goods and services for free have been around for some time. The Freecycle Network was founded in 2003 by Deron Beal to recycle items and Buy Nothing was started by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller in 2013 as a social experiment on a local gift economy and to cut down on plastic use.
Most of you reading here have heard of FreeCycle.org. It is a nonprofit movement where you can get rid of items you no longer need by giving them away for free or request items that you need. There is another interesting site that is currently in its pre-stage that looks quite promising. It is attempting to address some of the major problems people have with FreeCycle.
A variety of online groups such as Buy Nothing or Freecycle make it easy for you to get items for free from your neighbors who no longer need them. These groups are gaining popularity, with Freecycle giving away more than 24,000 items each day across more than 100 countries.
When I moved into my mother’s house, supplies for multiple cats were cramming available space and I only needed enough for two cats. I used freecycle.org to find people who wanted the extra beds, scratching posts, litter pans, toys, and carriers. I was already a long-time user of the site. I continue to use it for oddball items that occupy a twilight zone between too usable to trash, but too junky or bulky or simply not in demand for resale outlets.