It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills and membership is free.
WHAT IS FREECYCLE ABOUT?
First, what Freecycle is NOT about.Freecycle is NOT about giving only to the poor.It is NOT about getting as much free stuff as we can.It is NOT about getting things to earn money on the side.It is NOT about getting rid of junk that would be better off in the landfill.It is NOT about posting a "wish list" for expensive items and expecting a fairy godmother to fulfill it for us.It is NOT a community bulletin board for finding rentals, dentists, mechanics, or advertising our businesses and services or special events.
What Freecycle IS aboutFreecycle IS about keeping things out of the landfill.It IS about giving away something that has no use in our life anymore to someone who could extend its usefulness a little longer.It IS about giving gifts to people while clearing out our own clutter.It IS about creating, building, and sustaining an environmentally aware community.
Offering Items We No Longer Need to Those Who Need ThemWhen we post an OFFER, we are offering to give someone a gift. It is up to us to give this gift to whoever we feel would be the best recipient. We are not obligated to give our gift to someone who is rich, poor, single, married, has no kids, has 1 kid, has 15 kids, has a car, doesn't have a car, or has a purple octopus named George living in their backyard. We can choose the most polite, the rudest, the funniest, or the shortest response to receive our gift. We can put their names in a hat and do a draw, or we can wave our magic fingers over our screens and pick one that way. We can choose the first, 3rd, or 53rd respondent. We can wait 24 hours and then decide. It is up to us.
Letting Other People Know What We NeedWhen we post a WANTED message, or respond to an offer, we are requesting a gift. The odds are that no one on this list will be able to give us what we are asking for. But sometimes somebody will see a WANTED for a bowling ball and go "AHA! I have one in my closet!" But, you know what? Just because we are rich, poor, single, married, have no kids, have 1 kid, have 15 kids, have a car, don't have a car, or have a purple octopus named George living in our backyard, does not mean we are more worthy of receiving a gift from a fellow Freecycle member than the average person living down the street.
I love Freecycle. It's a great way to be green and keep things out of landfills. Personally I've always had a hard time getting rid of things I no longer need. It just seems shameful to put perfectly usable items into the trashcan just because I no longer use them, don't want to be a hoarder and just store it! I used to have garage sales, but gosh it's alot of work and I felt like I was practically giving my things away anyhow. Some charities will pick-up things like clothes but not everything, and I'm in the country and most won't come out here. With Freecycle I can offer it to my own community and neighbors, choose a recipient, and let them pick it up from my front porch. So easy!
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