“I liked the concept of keeping things out of the landfill but then I realized I could really help people and they could help me,” says Hopgood. “I definitely think it serves a wonderful purpose for the community. To know instead of hurting the environment someone will really enjoy something.”
Hopgood also started a local non profit group and uses “Free Cycle” to get clothes and items for homeless people in our area.
“I just can’t let go of things and I don’t like throwing things in the garbage that might be useful” says Tampa Freecycle member Ree Gasher. Gasher uses the site to give and receive. Her apartment is filled with things she got from fellow members through the site. She hangs her keys on a used key rack. Her son sleeps on a donated twin bed. And she’s even been able to add to her doll collection.
Bill Berlow Blogs…
Got stuff you want to get rid of that someone else could put to good use? Want something that someone else might not need anymore?
Have I got a deal for you.
If you have a computer and a little patience, the 3,300-member TallyFreecycle group is waiting for you to join its Yahoo-based “gifting” network.
TallyFreecycle is part of a growing international movement that began in Arizona five years ago. The Freecycle Network now claims more than 4 million members worldwide who are part of 3,500 community organizations.
If you don’t want to stage a garage sale but do want to get rid of unwanted items in your households to someone else, visit http://Freecycle.org. It’s a not-for-profit organization that has groups around the U.S., including South Florida.
Don Nelson reports that Freecycle is also flourishing in a town by the name of Athens, U.S.
“I have a little bit of the ‘green,’ hippie chick in me, and this makes me feel a lot better,” said the 26-year-old Bishop, who lives in Winder and has been involved with Freecycle for about a year and a half. “If you think long term about the planet and where we’re headed, this fulfills a need without everything going to landfills, because we’re not always going to have room for landfills.”
Freecycle.org has become an online hotspot for millions of people worldwide who are looking to dump things they don’t need but find a home for it with people who do.
The network is different from other similar online services, such as Craig’s List. Freecycle only accepts postings about items that are free.
Every week, Burt and Corlew, both employed in Nashville, head to their favorite trash bins, pulling out everything from broccoli to limes, mushrooms to bell peppers, all under cover of night.
Click here to read the article in full
The couple also use online groups such as FreeCycle - think Craigslist, with everything free - and a Google community group for east Nashville residents.
McCauley recently posted a want ad for a whiteboard on the Google group and had it by that afternoon.
When the electric blanket and hamster supplies flashed onto her screen, Christine Coburn pounced, claiming the goods from a donor known as Howlingmoon Wolvespirit.
Other freebies the Siloam Springs nurse, 39, and her husband, Chuck, have snapped up from online donors include an activity table they gave their son for Christmas and a Labrador-St. Bernard puppy that now weighs 65 pounds and is still growing.
Freecycle is an online exchange designed to keep castoffs out of landfills. With about 5, 000 members in Northwest Arkansas, it has become a popular way to sweep out the old to make room for the new.
“Freecycle” rhymes with “recycle” for a reason. The term means “free recycling” - as in, giving stuff away and getting stuff free of charge from folks who live in your area.
Freecycle.org seems to me to be the biggest of all the grassroots movements on the Web that seeks the Earth’s sustainability through re-use. The idea? Instead of throwing something out (perhaps something that can’t be picked up by the local recycling truck), post it on the Web to other members of your local Freecycle group as being free for the taking. Looking to get something for free? You can publish wanted ads too.
A friend of mine recently turned me on to the existence of the Freecycle group in my area. I’m not sure if all groups work the same but the one I’m a member of uses Yahoo Groups as the place to which four different types of posts get posted: OFFER, WANTED, TAKEN, RECEIVED. As a member of the group, I elect whether to have new posts forwarded to my inbox as they are posted to the Yahoo Group, or aggregated in summary form twice per day.Click here to read the blog in full
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