How to Freecycle in Your Community

In an effort to be more economically friendly, more groups are introducing the concept of freecyle. This is a great way to help others and to find places to give items from your home to others that are in need. Freecycle, unlike recycle, is when a person has an item, for instance a couch that they would like to give away. They would post a picture of the couch on the Freecycle webpage in their community and wait until someone expressed an interest in taking the couch off their hands, free of charge. This is entirely different from donating items to a not-for profit agency, as you will be able to meet the person that is actually going to be taking your item.

If you would like to start a Freecyle in your community, attend your local town or city council meeting during a time when new ideas or business can be addressed. Explain that you would like to start a Freecycle within your community. Make sure that council understands that the items that would be collected for Freecycle would not be going to the town dump. People that would actually be able to use them would take these items and this is an environmentally friendly concept of "recycling."

Speak with some of your neighbors and see if they would be interested in joining a Freecycle group. Most people have many items in their homes or garage that are just garnering dust. By creating a community Freecycle group, your entire neighborhood would be able to find new homes for items that would otherwise go into the trash or local dumpsite.

Should you build a Freecycle within your community, make sure that you have rules for everyone to abide by. For the most part, the most common rules used for Freecycle are WANTED or SOUGHT - this is used when you are looking for a specific item; FOUND or DISCOVERED - this term is used when you let your Freecycle group know that you have found an item you were looking for; OFFER or BID - term to use when you want your group to know you have an item for the Freecycle and TAKEN or GONE - when someone has taken an item from your Freecycle or the item is gone.

This is an excellent opportunity to introduce your children to the idea of Freecycle. You will be able to teach them that they don't have to throw everything away and that there are things that someone else can use. This will not only teach them how to provide others with essentials that are needed, but will help them develop a positive attitude regarding being environmentally friendly.

We all know that the area dumpsites are being filled to capacity on a daily basis. By organizing a Freecycle within your own community, you will be able to provide neighbors with many different choices of items they may need for their own homes as well as becoming economically friendly yourself.