Cleaning and clearing out your home after the holidays can provide an opportunity to declutter and pass on items you may no longer need to others who will find value in them. You can do that through The Freecycle Network (https://www.freecycle.org/), a nonprofit dedicated to helping people give and get items for free, is gearing up for its busiest day of the year on Jan. 2.

Founded in Tucson in 2003 by Deron Beal, the grassroots effort has grown to almost 12 million members with 5,332 groups in more than 100 countries. Tucson and surrounding areas have more than 15,000 members. The platform offers everything that people might find in closets, yards, sheds, homes and garages. That includes computers and electronics, musical instruments, supplies for crafts and hobbies, sporting equipment, tools and much more.

https://tucson.com/news/local/article_55cbcd6f-76a6-481c-aa57-3a40c977411f.html

Bring some, take some, for free
Tucson-based group sponsoring ‘no strings attached’ meet-ups

The guests have gone, the holiday hullabaloo hushed.

What’s left: stuff. Ribbons. Wrapping paper. And an assortment of misguided gifts and other unwanted items that promise to take up space for the next year, if not forever.

Rather than throw these things away, wouldn’t it be great to give them to someone who could love them – and even get something you truly want in return?

Freecycle.org, founded by Deron Beal on May 1, 2003, enables exactly that.

Beal created the website so that locals could sign up on a list server to unload items or request things they want to find.

Beal says the website he founded in Tucson now serves communities in more than 110 countries, and he expects to reach 10 million participants worldwide this year.

Read more

Few left empty-handed Saturday from Green Valley library’s first “Freecycle” event held as part of a Pima County Post Holiday Swap of free stuff.

True to its name, there were some holiday-themed items in the mix — all brought by winter visitors, year-round residents, out-of-towners and grandparents with kids in tow. Everybody learned more about the recycling concept and maybe even got some grins trying on wigs, handmade scarves, hats and other things that materialized.

Read more