I talk about Freecycle all the time, and I’m surprised how often someone says, “What’s that?” Here’s a quick overview! Here is the description from the Freecycle.org website:
“Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,348 groups with 5,036,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!”
Freecycle.org has a list of groups by location. If you can’t find one (which I doubt) you can start one. Freecycle allows you to offer or respond to offers for items that other people no longer want or need. They always say “no offer is too small,” and even things that are the proverbial “one man’s trash” find takers all the time.
I’ve gotten items we needed for our playgroup, craft supplies, furniture, and more from other freecyclers, and I’ve given away too many things to count. I’ve also met a lot of really, really nice people on my freecycle adventures… including the family that drove a love seat to our house and helped carry it in. (We didn’t ask, they offered!) I was deeply pleased when I was able to give away my old work wardrobe to a woman who had recently lost a lot of weight but hadn’t saved up enough to buy new professional clothes. Freecycle is a great place to re-home old stuff, find new to you stuff, and even to restore a little of your faith in humanity.
Read more at How to get the most out of Freecyle!
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