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/
Dana Rankin prefers Freecycle to Craigslist. After all, everything is free. She joined the local Freecycle group at www.kcfreecycle.org by filling out an application when she moved to Kansas City’s East Side from New Jersey.
“The Craigslist universe is so big that by the time you find something you want, it’s usually gone,” says Rankin, owner of an online garden gift shop. “To me, Freecycle is easier to navigate. It’s such a small community. You get e-mail alerts when a member has something you’re looking for.”
Rankin likes that with Freecycle, you can put out a list of goods you’re seeking; hers included a color television, bookcase and dresser. She’s given away a computer printer, books, toys and clothes her children outgrew.
Many of the morale-boosters tended to bubble up from the employees themselves, like Adoption Network Cleveland’s “freecycle” shelf, where used items like books, compact discs and housewares are given away. “I took all my old curtains and they were gone in a day,” said Executive Director Betsie Norris.
The idea has expanded into an occasional Freecycle Day when employees organize their own free rummage sale, she said. Last Thursday, workers gave away tables full of books they had read and wanted to share. “It was like a free bookstore,” Norris said. “We invited everyone in the building.”
Clothing, used
Sometimes the greenest clothes have already been worn. Value Village’s most-loved location is at 800 W. North Ave.; others include 5013 York Rd. in Govans and 3424 Eastern Ave. in Highlandtown. Village Thrift in Middle River (10 Stemmers Run Rd.) gives weekly discounts on high-end labels. The Clothing Warehouse recently expanded its vintage empire with a Baltimore franchise (1211 S. Charles St.; 410-244-6554). The Fashion Attic sells—and buys—gently used women’s fashions from brands such as Banana Republic, Urban Outfitters, and Betsey Johnson (1926 Fleet St., Suite A; 410-276-0817; www.thefashionattic.com). A group of Federal Hill moms started the children’s consignment shop Ladybugs and Fireflies (1049 S. Charles St.; 410-244-0472; www.ladybugsandfireflies.com). The Baltimore Free Store sets up shop at various locales around the city (www.freestorebaltimore.org). Baltimore also has a chapter of the national Freecycle.com network, a Craigslist-esque enterprise that connects people with free stuff (www.freecycle.org).
And then there’s always Freecycle. Freecycle is an e-mail list service where participants post items they want to get rid of or items they are in search of.
There are a few restrictions (such as you can’t sell things on there and you can’t list your children), but it’s a great way to see if someone has use of your useless stuff. (And sometimes charities get involved, so you still may be able to get your items to a worthy cause.)
To sign up, visit www.freecycle.org.
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