Almost perfectly tailored for the current belt-tightening economic climate and the drive towards greener lifestyles , Freemeets, which started in 2005, is effectively an opportunity to benefit – for free – from another person’s cast-offs. It was founded by Christina Salvi, director of the New York City branch of Freecycle.org, an online messageboard where people can post, item by item, things that they no longer want .

Word on Freemeets spreads via social networking sites. In New York alone, its original community now has some 30,000 members.

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