Another way to “go green” in Sangamon County is by joining the Springfield Freecycle Network, the largest reuse community in central Illinois.

It’s not a charity or a business. It’s an idea that perfectly good used stuff deserves a home other than the landfill. Instead of throwing out things like furniture, dishes, bikes and electronics, people give these items away for free to other people in their community who can use them.

Anyone with access to a computer can log on to www.freecycle.org and find a link to their local community Freecycle site. There are more than 4,300 Freecycle sites and nearly 5 million members worldwide. Illinois has 186 Freecycle sites, with many in central Illinois.

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There’s even a website to assist in all of this: freecycle.org– sort of a craigslist for non-sexual things– that has as a mission to get people to think outside the box a little bit, and ask that if they don’t need something, maybe somebody else might. It’s worth checking out, and if you want a trailer, you may want to take a look at what TWGB has to offer, too.

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Freecycle is an online group whose members offer free items they no longer want and can ask for anything they may be in need of.

Melanie Clevenger, a Freecycle moderator, said the group is a great resource for students.

According to the national Freecycle network Web site, www.freecycle.org, the group is “globally local,” and each city has volunteer moderators and a unique e-mail group. Anyone living in that city is then welcome to post items to be given away or to seek items which they might be able to use.

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And so, in the spirit of EcoGeekiness, I hereby pledge to actually do something about it. This stuff has to go! It’s pretty easy to get rid of stuff nowadays…with EBay and Craigslist and Freecycle. But some of it might not be so easy to part with. So I am hereby beginning a series in which I will be replacing hardware either with multiple-use items (trading scissors for knives) or with software. And, hoorah! I will free myself of these earthly ties….and increase that beautiful spiritual connection I have with this machine before me.

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Laura Zurowski is one of the moderators of the Dutchess chapter of Freecycle, an online exchange of free used merchandise.

She said if there is a little life in an electronic item, people could try to pass it along to someone else rather than sending it to a recycling facility.

She said about a quarter of the messages offering merchandise for reuse deal with computers, monitors, printers, faxes, DVD player and TVs.

“Some people people use Freecycle to look for parts for computers,” Zurowski said in an e-mail message.

“It’s not as convenient as simply dropping the item off at a recycling center,” she said, “but I think there’s a greater satisfaction knowing that your equipment is being used and enjoyed by another person.”

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Liz Chalk, of Matlock Road, has been a member of Eastbourne Freecycle for eight months and became a moderator for Eastbourne’s Freecycle group after replying to a notice asking for help from volunteers.

Liz said, “When someone becomes a new member their posts go through a moderator for a bit just to check that people are doing what they are supposed to do.”

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Teva Ingrassia is a member of freecycle, an online network of some three-point-four million people in hometowns across America. They give and get stuff for free.
“I’ve been involved with freecycle for about two years and we’ve gotten everything from the smallest

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#25. Sometimes you just can’t afford to buy new. There is a community called
Freecycle where you can give and get stuff for free. Go to www.freecycle.org
for more info. The idea is to reduce waste in landfills.

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Thunder Bay Freecycle : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thunderbayfreecycle

A local environmental group is going the extra mile when it comes to recycling and is taking the old expression ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ to productive new heights.

Since 2004 Freecycle Thunder Bay has been trading everything from books and cookie cutters to washers and dryers and group organizer Tessa Soderberg says with Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22 what better way to get involved in reducing waste than to join in.|

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From April 20 through May 4, Yahoo! will help inspire people to join groups and recycle by placing eco-friendly prizes, such as a “Smart car”, eco-trips and green cleaning services, in randomly selected reuse groups. Yahoo! created a microsite to make it easy for users to find a reuse group in their community. The site will be promoted on Yahoo!’s homepage and throughout the network. Yahoo! will also host reuse events at many of its campuses worldwide for employees.

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