“I remember postings from one guy who asked for framed pictures, to make his apartment more ‘homey,’ since he was bummed that his wife kicked him out,” one local Freecycle user recalled in an e-mail to the Budgeteer. “A few days later, he was asking for baby equipment for his pregnant girlfriend.”
A COUPLE were left stranded at home after vandals torched their car and the wheelchair which was inside.
Mark, who is now a full-time carer for his wife, was able to buy a cheap car while waiting for insurance money to come through.
But he has not been able to find a replacement chair for Julie that will make do until a new one comes into stock.
The 40-year-old has now turned to the internet for help.
He is the moderator of Hyndburn’s Freecycle network - an internet site where people offer items they no longer want for free.
A poster to the eco-australia blog has put together a helpful guide for maximising your recycling mojo and reducing the amount you put into landfill.
Local resources for rehoming your old stuff include Freecycle Today and e-Cycled. The Australian Giving Centre lists organisations that will accept donated blankets, clothes, computers, mobile phones, furniture, bikes and more.
An alternative to yard sales, is to join the grassroots movement springing up across the country know as Freecycle™ , an online community for people who can use the internet to give away — and get — items for free.
After reading about the organization, I was pleased to go online and see that there is a BeverlyMA Freecycle™ group open to all in Beverly and surrounding communities who would rather recycle something than throw it away. You may learn more about this group by visiting www.freecycle.org. And for those of you with used latex paint you want to get rid of, drop it off at Montserrat College of Art by Jan. 25 and it will be used for a future art exhibit. It appears that the values of our grandparents focusing on resourcefulness, thrift, and environmental stewardship should become fashionable again to really help us make a positive impact on our environment.
We speak with Deron Beal, founder and executive director of Tucson, Arizona based Freecycle.org, a non-profit, online movement that claims millions of members and keeps tons of trash out of landfills by offering a “cyber-sharing” clearinghouse.
Deron’s interview is the 4th on the show
Click here to listen
The Flintshire Freecycle network has 2,113 members who regularly swap unwanted but sound items for free.
Freecycle is a free version of an auction website, where you upload details of your unwanted items and people who want them then get in touch for further details before collecting them.
All you need to do is register and put the details of your items on the website and wait for someone to contact you.
Johanna Worley, 50, of Manitowoc, a runner, said she is concerned about the days when poor air quality causes public officials to urge people not to be outside. She also is worried about water quality and questioned the environmental benefit locally of constructing new buildings rather than using existing vacant buildings.
Worley said buying a compost bin last fall encouraged her to think about all of the items that end up in a landfill. She has used the Web site, www.freecycle.org, a nonprofit community swap program, to get rid of unwanted items.
Freecycle communities exist in more than 4,100 cities, including Columbus and 100 other Ohio municipalities and counties. If you want something, just send an e-mail to your local group asking for it. If you have something you don’t want, offer it up. Nobody pays for anything or trades for anything. It’s free. That’s a blessing for people who have fallen on hard times. Even those too poor to have a computer or Internet service usually can access the Internet through computers at their public library. Libraries are another blessing.
The goal of the organization is to reuse items, “keeping the good stuff out of landfills.” Rather than throwing away good usable merchandise, members can post their listings for free items. Chances are someone will take it because as they say, one’s man trash really is another man’s treasure.
The Freecycle Network noted that the process is keeping more than 400 tons out of the landfills daily.
“I think Freecycle is the best way to help people who are unable, for whatever reason, to get items which they need or want,” he said.
“I have a five-year-old daughter who wanted a pet and last week we got her a hamster from someone through Freecycle. We have also received a TV for the front room which was a big help.
“It certainly saves unwanted items being flytipped, dumped or left to gather dust. And I feel it brings people and communities closer together when one person helps another.”
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