Freecycle - Giving and Receiving in the Community

Freecycle.org is an organization that was started in May of 2003 in Tucson Arizona. The main idea behind Freecycle was waste reduction and making sure that the landscape was not taken over by garbage dumps. Basically, Freecycle provides online communities, based on geographic location, that helps people give, and receive, free items within the community. There are currently over two million Freecycle members.

Freecycle Giving

Once you join your local community's Freecycle group, you can offer things to the other members. Everything is handled through Yahoo groups and email. You simple create an email or post that states, "Offer" and your location and what you are offering. All products must be given away for free.

If anyone is interested in what you want to get rid of, they will contact you directly to arrange a pick up. Act fast, because many items are snatched up within minutes of posting! It is normal procedure to give your address to the person and then leave the item on the porch or wait for the doorbell to ring.

Freecycle Receiving

Members of Freecycle will get a notice every time another member posts something that they wish to give away. If you are interested in that item, you only have to reply to that member and say that you are interested in the item. Usually, Freecycle members practice "first come, first served," which means that the first person who responds to a post will be the one to get the item.

Also, Freecycle members can post "Wanted" posts if they are looking for a specific item. If anyone has that item that they wish to get rid of, they can contact the poster.

Freecycle Environmental

Over two hundred and ten million pounds of garbage are created every year in the United States alone. At that rate, landfill space is used up quickly. In the relatively well-off society we live in, many unwanted items are simply thrown away instead of resold or given to others. If someone buys a new TV, they simply put the old one out by the curb, even if it still works. What is the use of a working TV sitting in the landfill?

Using Freecycle can reduce the load of unwanted items being sent to landfills. And items that still have some use to someone will get used, not wasted.

I have been a member of my local Freecycle group for almost a year. In that time, I have gotten many free books, a free TV and VCR, and assorted craft supplies and toys for my children. I have gotten rid of an old digital camera that I no longer needed, clothing my kids have grown out of, and old notebooks. The Freecycle group is a friendly, positive place that gives you a real sense of community.

In almost four thousand Freecycle groups around the world, people are giving and receiving countless objects every day. If not for Freecycle, and the community of sharing that it provides, these items would be sent to a garbage dump or landfill. With Freecycle, you can clean out your house and garage, get an item you need or want for free, and feel good while doing it.