Freecycle is one of those things that is not really a technological thing but would be impossible without technology. At its heart, it is people sharing and helping each other out. The Freecycle network is made up of 4,734 groups with 6,680,000 members all over the world. Its mission is clear, to keep stuff you don’t need anymore out of the landfill and into the hands of someone who’d like to have it. The old truism one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure is a truism for a reason. And so Freecycle was started.
It’s pretty simple. You sign up for a group in your area, you peruse the group for things people are giving away that you might be interested in and if you have something you’d like to part with and think someone else can use, you can post about that on the group. The one in my area, for instance, on one random day I chose, had a dinner table that sits 4-6 which was offered and picked up, a scanner and computer monitor offered and picked up, somoene who was looking for an office chair, and another person who was looking for an old crimping iron (as in 80s hairstyle crimping iron). It keeps these things out of the dump and someone gets to use the things you may just throw away. Or it may be the perfect chance to get rid of the crimping iron down in that box in your basement. We’re all cleaning up around these days and getting out our summer stuff so maybe there are some things you’d like to offer up. If so, check out Freecycle.org.
