What do you do when times are tight but you still need to replace the wooden legs on your couch? How are you supposed to keep the glaring sunlight out of your eyes so that you can balance the chequebook at your desk? Where can you find bedsheets, cookie jars, and bicycles for free, all while feeling like you’re contributing to a worthy social cause?

There is a new trend in environmental activism that doesn’t cost a thing but helps keep otherwise useful household goods out of landfills. The first Freecycle group started in 2003 when Deron Beal sent an email to a few dozen friends, colleagues and local non-profit agencies near him in Tucson, Arizona. Beal worked for a group that provided recycling services and he noticed perfectly good stuff being thrown away, so he decided to do something about it.

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The Grande Prairie Freecycle Network is open to all who want to “recycle” that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it’s a chair, a fax machine, piano or an old door, feel free to post it. Or maybe you’re looking to acquire something yourself! Nonprofit groups are also welcome to participate too!

One constraint: everything posted must be free. This network is brought to you by The Freecycle Network, a nonprofit organization and a movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of landfills.

Check out freecycle.org to find the Grande Prairie group and info on the movement! E-mail freecyclegrandeprairie@yahoogroups.com for questions or improvement ideas!

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Others Britney wanted to thank include Cowichan Valley Freecycle — which was instrumental in providing kitchenwares, linen and furniture, said Tansor Elementary School parent Allison Rimmer —Home Hardware Building Centre and Volume One Bookstore for their generous donations.

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* Give items away through a free ad or at a website such as SaultFreeCycle (type Sault FreeCycle into your search engine).

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I’ve heard of Freecycling, but how exactly does it work? How is it different from dumping your stuff on Craigslist?

Funny you should ask — I actually just wrote about Freecycle for the National Post. But in short: it’s an online, grassroots, user-operated network with over 14,000 members in Toronto, and is much like Craigslist except there’s no money involved — it’s just people giving and getting stuff for free. In terms of giving, there’s no profit to be made, but there is a lot of convenience in being able to leave a clunky old TV on your front porch and have it disappear within hours. Plus, you know that it’s going to someone’s home rather than into a landfill, which adds a nice environmental bonus.

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People are turning to bartering, foraging and trash salvaging.

Nationwide data are not collected on these practices, but anecdotal evidence indicates they are growing. Bartering listings on Craigslist have doubled over the last 12 months. The Freecycle Network, for people who want to offer or receive free items, has seen a spike in membership since last October, when weekly membership increases jumped to about 75,000 per week, up from about 30,000.

Though Freecycle has an environmental slant, people are using the site to ask for basic necessities such as food and clothing, founder Deron Beal said.

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A popular vehicle for clearing unwanted — but still useful — items out of basements and garages in many southern Ontario cities has come to Kapuskasing.

The aptly (and punnily) named freecycling movement is really not such a new idea. It’s basically a swap meet updated for the digital age. Rather than lugging all of that unwanted stuff to a place where other people with unwanted stuff can look at your unwanted stuff, freecycling sees people take pictures of their items on a computer bulletin board, include descriptions and contact information and…voila! Digital swap meet.

“If you have something that is still usable, rather than have it end up in a landfill, you offer it to someone else,” said Marissa Reedhead, who started up Kapuskasing Freecycle.

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7. Join your local Freecycle network, where people pass on baby gear, furniture, electronics, clothing and craft supplies, among other stuff, for free.

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To the couch’s previous owner: if you are too lazy or cheap to dispose of your couch in an appropriate way, consider posting it to freecycle.org for someone to claim it. They’ll even come to your door and take it away.

The online network connects people with extra stuff to those in need of stuff. In Greater Victoria, there are 5,767 members, all practising the international network’s principles of free giving and keeping stuff out of the landfill. (Hartland is set to reach capacity by 2045.)

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It turns out that you can get something for nothing. In fact, if you want to be part of the Freecycle Network, they insist on it. Part of a global movement rapidly nearing 6 million members, Rancho has its very own local group of people who, according to the freecycle.org website are, “giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns.”

Started just over 5 years ago in Arizona, Freecycle is now a registered nonprofit corporation that keeps hundreds of tons of materials out of landfills daily. They accomplish all this by allowing members to post notices online. Through subscriptions to Yahoo Groups, Freecycle members list descriptions of items that they are looking to obtain or relieve themselves of. Membership and participation is free. All groups are moderated by local volunteers. Moderators insure that both the items offered and the members adhere to the rules and guidelines.

Listings are kept simple and to the point. Items are listed first by: wanted, offered, taken or received, and then followed by a very brief description. This streamlined policy makes the postings quick and easy to scan. No headaches here.

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