You can get lots of free goodies for nothing, as well as give away unwanted items instead of filling up the local dump.
One catch though — you have to sign up through Yahoo. Mr. T’s word of advice: Set up a separate e-mail specifically freebie hunting, as you’ll otherwise clog up your inbox.
It’s become the norm to reuse, recycle and swap goods, and these activities are among the best ways to use our resources wisely. Sites such as Freecycle.org, where people post unwanted stuff for others to pick up for free, and Craigslist, which operates like an online yard sale, maintain steady traffic. We are repairing goods instead of tossing and buying new ones, and making products last longer - magazines urge readers to save money by using less shampoo each day, or soaking up spills with rags instead of paper towels.
WENDLAND
Published: August 14, 2009
The Freecycle website needs to be at the top of your favorites list.
It’s a way to help others by sharing and to help yourself by “freecycling”, if you will, perfectly good stuff that other people no longer need.
It’s a huge online community made up of nearly 5,000 local groups and 7 million members.
Joining is free.
Just pick your local area and sign up.
So what’s an upgraded sleeper with a perfectly good old mattress to do? The Freecycle Network Web site allows people to post stuff to give away to anyone willing to come pick it up; likewise, chances are your local version of Craigslist also has a “free” section where you can post that it as available.
And who doesn’t want to be frugal by getting stuff for free? Check out FreeCycle.org. Everything on the Charlotte post is free. It’s filled with posts from people in the area who would rather give it away instead of throw it away.
It may be 25 years before the local landfill reaches capacity, but if users of a local website have their way, several more years will be tacked onto the dump’s life.
Margaret Moore moderates Freecycle. “Yep, everything’s free no strings attached.” It’s an online network where people post items they offer to giveaway for free.
Moore says if you have a lot of things at home and don’t feel like having a garage sale, you can post it on freecycle, there’s always somebody in this city or outside this city who would be glad to come and get it from you.”
In checking out the site I found that there are about 5,000 groups. When you visit the site you are allowed to search for a group near you. I had no problem finding one in Peoria, Illinois.
Posts are typically kept to absolute minimums. An example may be “Needed couch-Peoria.” When the couch is obtained (for free) then the post is completed as “couch delivered” or something along that line. Garage sales and mileage for pick-up or delivery is prohibited. It seems every effort is made to keep integrity at the site.
Don’t have to wait until Curb Day or Coralville’s Recycle Swap Day to share unwanted belongings. Freecycle.org supports local groups that let people give (and get) stuff for free in any town, anytime.
— Poweshiek County Freecycler
Provo resident Liz Wilcken prefers to get and get rid of things before they reach the dumpster. She is an active member of the Provo Group of Freecycle.org. According to its Web site, the Freecycle Network is made up of 4,749 groups with 6,737,556 members all over the world. It is a nonprofit movement of people who give (and get) stuff for free in their own towns, thus keeping good stuff out of landfills.
She first learned about it from a friend’s blog. Through Freecycle she has been able to get dolls and My Little Ponies for her daughter.
FREE ONLINE TRADING POST
This isn’t your grandma’s recycling. Freecycle is a worldwide effort to promote recycling giveaways from one person to the next. There’s a Bloomington group site on Yahoo! that posts about 200 items each week. Think local eBay , but free. Sign up for a daily newsletter to fi nd out what people want and what they’re giving away. The mission of the program, according to the site, is, “A perfect consumer/earth friendly circle with no overhead, no money, no waste, and no catch.”
Join the group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BBINFreecycle/
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