The Joys and Sorrows of Running a Freecycle Group

As co-owner of my local Freecycle group, I try to lead by example. Rather than throwing out things I no longer need or use, I offer them to others, who may be in need of them. And when I need something, especially something I think someone else may have lying around unused and taking up space, my group is the first stop I make. The goal of Freecycle is to keep tangible, useable items out of our landfills. Initially started in Tucson, Arizona, Freecycle is now a worldwide movement, encouraging others to keep items out of the landfill and recycle items such as aluminum cans, newspapers, plastics, etc.

However, every moderator or group owner of Freecycle (who are all volunteers, and it depending on the group size it can be a time consuming effort) has "difficult" members. Members who think nothing of asking for (and these are all things I have seen personally) cars, homes, swimming pools, Jacuzzis, NEW furniture and clothing, items for furnishing an entire household from top to bottom, and the list goes on.

People either forget, or are misinformed of the true purpose of Freecycle. That is to keep items that are still useable, but headed to the landfill from actually GETTING to the landfill. What many people consider junk, is treasure to someone else - fabric remnants from a sewing project or old clothing can be a quilters dream, egg carton crates can be used by teachers for a myriad of craft projects, broken appliances are a handyman's dream, empty baby food containers are great for storing small odds and ends for craft items and nails and screws in garages, the possibilities really are endless.

Yes, you often find a great treasure - furniture that is still useable but someone has bought new, baby or children's clothes (I just gave away a huge trash bag of baby clothes earlier this week and a booster seat that had never been used!). You also see things that you wonder who would want it, but almost always someone does.

The only catch, is that everything must be FREE - no strings attached.

Running such a group can be easy and tiresome at the same time. Assuming all members follow the rules (which really are minimal), there's few problems. One of the most consistent problems encountered in every group is the high number of " No-Shows" that is, you posted something to give away, and someone says they want it. You set up a time for them to get it, and they never show.

And then of course, you run into members who play the he said she said game. " So and so promised me this widget but gave it to someone else" or " this widget isn't what they said it was" or...whatever. Times like this we become babysitters to our group and try to figure out what really happened. Really, there's not much we can do, in worse case scenarios we can ban a member if their behavior is egregious enough, but that's fairly rare.

You also have members who have a serious case of "gimme" syndrome. Members who post "Wanteds" for everything under the sun and never offer a single item in return. Those are quite often the same members who try to get everything that is posted as an "Offer" on the site.

For all the occasional headaches, though, Freecycle fosters a wonderful sense of community amongst its most giving members. I have made terrific friends from this group, people I never otherwise would have met.

Think about the stuff filling your closets, your drawers, garages, storage sheds...think about how much space you could make by getting rid of it! Do you have old curtains you know you'll never hang again? Sports equipment from when your 30-year-old child was in middle and high school? Exercise equipment collecting dust and rusting? A pile of cardboard boxes from your last move? A cabinet full of mis matched dishes that are never used? Bags of clothing that never quite made it to the thrift store? More bags of old, outgrown children's toys? Books in a box that haven't been read in years? Old baby equipment you no longer need? The thing is, EVERYONE has SOMETHING that don't need. But don't want to throw away, because its still "good" Force the packrat in yourself to part with some of this stuff, and make new friends in the process! But please, on behalf of all the owners and moderators, READ the rules. And Follow them! There's not many, it's not hard. Play nice and be considerate.

If you are already a member of your local group, be considerate in your dealings with other members and the "staff". We are people too, and do our best to make everyone happy and things running smoothly, but sometimes, that just doesn't quite work out!

Happy Freecycling everyone! Help keep our landfills cleared!

To find a Freecycle group in your community, or to start one if there is not one local to you, visit www.freecycle.org.