Unwanted toys and gifts

Barnardos is running a toy drive right now so you can donate any toys your children are no longer using to them. You can also join your local Freecycle group on Facebook where you can offer unwanted items to people in your area. If they are in excellent condition, you can also sell them on Done Deal or Buy and Sell.

Globally, there are thousands of local groups representing millions of members – people helping people and ‘changing the world, one gift at a time’ through using Freecycle services. 

By giving freely with no strings attached, members of the Freecycle Network help to instil a sense of generosity of spirit as they strengthen local community ties and promote environmental sustainability and reuse. The existence of Facebook has facilitated these contacts being made. 

In line with their aim to foster and promote environmental projects, Castleknock Tidy Towns (CTT) set up Castleknock Freecycle in October ’22, also on Facebook, where people who have items they no longer want or need, can give it away to other local people. 

https://dublingazette.com/dublinlocalmatters/freecycle-global-movement-332860/

Freecycle Cork –

The dedicated freecycle.org website has entire sections for communities across Cork city and West Cork to both post ‘offers’ and ‘wanted’ to give or receive what they need.

The Non-profit Freecycle Network spans across the globe with a community of over 9 million members, all giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Right now, there are listings in Cork for everything from couches, bedside lockers, rocking chairs, sofa beds, full dining sets and secondary school textbooks – all free to a good home.

https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/local-news/toys-tvs-heres-stuff-free-25014170

The freecycle movement is one such community that believes in this principle of giving. In Ireland it takes the form of a Facebook group (Zero Waste Freecycle Ireland) with over 13,500 members, where people post things they would like to give away for free. Anyone can comment underneath an item in order to claim it. Similarly people are free to announce that they are “in search of” something. You could deck out an entire student house with necessary bits and pieces: plates, cutlery, beds, books and posters are given away every day. My own house’s student-grunge decor has benefited greatly from freecycling. At this point we are living in an emporium of the weird and wonderful as one of my housemates has become particularly attached to the thrill of finding random free oddities online.

http://www.universitytimes.ie/2021/04/the-gift-economy-is-money-necessary/

Updating your furniture is a good way to change your space, and you don’t have to break to bank to get some unique pieces either. Online marketplaces like Ebay (ebay.co.uk) and Shpock (shpock.com) are a great place to look for cheap vintage items, and Gumtree has furniture going for rock-bottom prices too. If you’re really tight on cash, you could also try Freecycle (freecycle.org), a grassroots movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/lifestyle/7-ways-to-make-a-rented-house-feel-like-a-home-1093113.html

Sell or donate – We often have lots of perfectly good items in our homes that we no longer need or want. Whether its’ clothing that we have outgrown, or furniture that doesn’t match the new colour scheme, these items have lots of good shelf life left in them and will be appreciated by a new owner. If you don’t want to sell the items, charity shops and organisations are always grateful for donations, other options include the local freecycle or swap shop pages on social media

Also in the line for the charity shop or for friends were the items we thought we’d never get through. We no longer need a Moses basket, or the co-sleeper, or the newborn bath inset, or the bottle steriliser, or the musical chair that kept her mildly entertained during a frantic shower, or a feverish bout of housework. No, Madam is on the go now; she’s approaching wobbler status and is outgrowing baby stuff quicker than we can add it to the Freecycle Network.

Read more

3. Think carefully about what you’re buying

Could you be more mindful with your purchases – perhaps buying new things less often, enabling you to spend a little more on sustainably-produced goods that are made to last?

“Sustainability starts with not consuming. Ask yourself if you really need what you think you need,” says TV interior designer Naomi Cleaver, who’s teamed up with Moda (modaliving.com) on projects to help revolutionise city centre living across the UK. “Look on websites like Freecycle and eBay (plus charity shops) before you buy anything. There are lots of sharing websites and apps popping up enabling you to hire household equipment, such as occasionally-used tools, so you don’t have to buy them. Only buy things for your home that, to paraphrase William Morris, you love and will endure years of use, as well as passing trends.”

Read more