In case there's anyone out there who doesn't already know, Freecycle is a worldwide network of online communities that help people reuse unwanted stuff. If you have something you want to get rid of, you post an entry like this:
Title: OFFER: left-handed golf clubs
From: Lobelia
Date: 13:39, 26 Oct 2009
Location: Hobbiton
Description: Set of left-handed golf clubs. I don't play golf and I'm not left-handed. Don't ask me what I'm doing with them. Quick pick-up preferred.
And within a day, usually, you will get at least one request for the unwanted item from another member. In fact, it's not unusual to get a deluge of requests within the first couple of hours. (You can choose to give it to anyone you wish, though I usually follow a first-come, first-served policy.) In the past five years, I have successfully used Freecycle to get rid of many items, including:
- an eight-year-old Macintosh computer
- several old textbooks
- a reel-type lawn mower with a wheel that (as I stated quite openly) didn't stay on very well
- a Weed Whacker with a motor that was (as I also stated quite openly) on the verge of burning itself out
- an old CRT monitor
- a surplus of rubber bands
So, if there is anyone out there in cyberspace who does not yet belong to a Freecycle group: try it, you'll like it.
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1 comment:
We just got rid of a big pile of stuff on Freecycle. I love it! Like you, we have a very hard time getting rid of things that could still be used. Now we have things that I've offered on Freecycle that no one has taken, but I'm SURE that somewhere out there is someone who can use it for something. What comes after Freecycle?
Lately something has been bugging me that seems related. I keep seeing banners, like "Congratulations for beating !!!", like 5 ft by 8 ft, made out of something that looks pretty indestructible like vinyl. Every time I see something like that, I think, "what are they going to do with that?" Somewhere there is a landfill full of these signs, I guess. What a waste.
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