Recycle/giveaway sites

Probably the most famous of the recycling sites, where you can pick up unwanted items for free or give away your own, is the Freecycle Network, which matches people who have things they want to get rid of, with people who can use them.

The laudable goal is to save landfill, and the result for bargain-hunters is a great way to pick up freebies. Run by local volunteer moderators, the first UK Freecycle group was set up in London in 2003, and there are now 540 across the country, with 2,490,981 members. You simply sign up with a group in your local area and then can post free “wanted” and “offer” messages and respond to other members’ postings by email.The person giving away an item decides who gets it from the responses and sets up a collection time, posting a “taken” message on the item once collected.

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