» Freecycle - You Should Know About This!, It's a cool option to recycle stuff!

Ok, so I know you are all eco-friendly people and you recycle paper and plastic etc....but did you know you could also "recycle" stuff that's not normally considered recyclable?
Instead of throwing away that old sofa that you couldn't get to Goodwill or something, you can post a message to a Freecycle group (after joining of course!) in your neighbourhood...it's a virtual group but lots of towns have groups like College park in MD has one, that I joined recently.

The main condition is that everything posted must be absolutely free but they have other rules like no prescription drugs and no firearms which I think are good rules to abide by!
The best part is that people can come by and pick up at your home (i know it might sound kinda scary but you can make it safe, by having people around or just putting it out on the porch - which is what a lot of people do) so you don't have to go out to get rid of the unwanted but still usable item.

I don't know how you feel about using a used mattress but there could be other stuff on Freecycle that you could get, by posting a "wanted" message to let people know what you want.
I almost got a blender, but it was too far for my colleague to drive so we decided not to go pick it up.
I got a free dining table from the same people who gave us the sofa and loveseat, because they are moving so they have to get rid of some heavy stuff...apparently movers charge by the pound...a fact I did not know!

I know a lot of people do give away stuff without needing to use Freecycle, but if you get to a place where you don't know anyone who has the stuff you want, suddenly, it's quite a convenient thing to have access to, and if you're leaving a place and find that you can't sell your stuff and would prefer not to just throw it in the dumpster, Freecycle is the place you can find a new home for it. Some groups even allow pet postings too.

There are other websites that offer this kind of service, (ReUseIt) but I don't believe they are as well organised or established as Freecycle ...although I would be quite happy to be proven wrong on that.

That is not to say it is a perfect system because it is not. For one thing, they have this crazy policy (I probably shouldn't call it that....so don't tell anyone I did! ) where if there is a group set up as a county-wide group, covering an entire county (something they used to do in the old days) then that means no other Freecycle groups are allowed to form in that county unless some people beg a lot and the Freecycle admin then makes a polite request to the county-wide group owner and asks them if they would mind changing the borders of their group to allow a new group. Let me tell you though, this rarely happens and I think it is quite unfortunate because Freecycle could better serve a lot of communities if some of these county-wide groups were officially de-regionalised (I think I just made up a word) to allow more groups within a county.

(See I told you this could get long....!)

Hopefully I have shed some light on Freecycle...this feels like a lens...maybe I should make a lens out of it...I certainly have enough text....
Anyone heard of Squidoo? I love that site...it's a great place for budding writers (and people who just like to make a lot of websites) to sharpen their chops...or whatever....

You are just a wealth of information, Miss Parker! Thanks for the info!

I am! I feel like I stepped into Broots' shoes for a little while!

I'm gonna start recycling all my posts.

"All" your posts, Choccster? You've hardly made any in ages!!! I was meaning to scold you about that by the way!!!

I hope all is going well with you and your education!

Just for the record (in case it matters! ), Freecycle does not allow recycling of intangibles... so your posts wouldn't count Choccster.
The rule about that is, if it doesn't stop something from getting into a landfill, it doesn't qualify to be recycled on Freecycle.
Good luck recycling your posts though! Should be interesting!

Hmm I will have to check this out!

You should! I got my dining table (with chairs) a sofa, loveseat and a tv already (all in less than a month-it's the season for giving I guess-this gives me an idea for a lens!), and was going to get an entertainment center but decided to give it up to some poor college students who probably needed it more than me...though, by the way, here's another fun fact: the word "needed" is not allowed on Freecycle posts...in case it encourages anyone to go out and buy something I guess...

I'm trying to get used to it stlll, but I signed up for my town's network and my school's town's network. Hope it helps! 'Cause I AM one of those poor college kids who needs an entertainment centre...

Awwww....wish I could have gotten it and mailed it to you!

Poor Quibus! I hope you get your entertainment centre!

Hahah thanks guys! I'm sure I'll find one somewhere,

Hahah thanks guys! I'm sure I'll find one somewhere. It sucks how we college kids are in perpetual need of everything.

...so are us old folks who don't have any money!!! Sigh.

Have you joined your local group, mattali? You can't get free stuff if you don't join!

No one's giving away any good stuff around here *sigh*

They're giving away old music cassettes, and VHS movies here.

I don't feel comfortable giving my address to people I don't know...especially ones that live within traveling distance of my house!

I know the feeling. I barely could bring myself to give the generous dude on Freecycle the address of my apartment building when he volunteered to drop off the TV he offered for me! I couldn't help myself...I'm a natural cynic....trapped inside an eternal optimist! LOL
But the nice thing about Freecycle is you don't have to give your address out...you can arrange to meet up in a public place for the handover of whatever is being given away.

So I signed up for freecycle... there's something wrong with the people who run the one in my town. I was getting WAY too many emails sent about what was wanted, offered, taken, etc.. Eventually I got so frustrated that I sent a request to stop emails because I was deleting like 50+ per day. It said it might take two weeks to stop emails. After two weeks my inbox was still getting flooded, so I deleted my account entirely. STILL GOT EMAILS. I had to block them all. Pain in my butt.

I *sort of* Freecycle; I give away stuff I don't need anymore to friends for birthdays and whatnot. Like DVDs and books. Only stuff I know they'll like, I don't use them as an excuse to empty my shelves, y'know?

Very cool Choccster! What do you do with the stuff you know they won't like? Those would probably be perfect to recycle on Freecycle.
BTW, nice to see you on here...as mattali says, don't be a stranger! I'm curious to know if you are on Twitter too.

BTW, Freecycle tip of the day: The Freecycle network never uses the word "Freecycle" as a verb! It's some TM thing...so just wanted to pass that little tip on, in case I forgot to mention it before, or just to re-emphasise. I don't suppose it matters if people outside the network use the word as a verb but we "insiders" are not supposed to in case it causes TFN to lose their precious TM!

Interesting about the use of the word Freecycle! I guess one must know the ropes so as not to be gauche. I'll remember that if I ever join it.

The stuff neither me nor my friends or family would like is stuff that nobody would like. In most cases, anyway! Some obscure things that people might like I'll put on eBay. I give away so much stuff all year round so my conscience is clear. People sometimes complain that I give them cool stuff when it's not their birthday. Or that I give them too much for their birthday.

I'm on Twitter, just look me up, same username as here. As for this charming place, it's a forum that sadly doesn't have a lot of active members. As such there aren't that many active threads and whatnot. So it's difficult to be super-active.

How is everyone?

Yeah, I know this site isn't nearly as active as it used to be! We all visit here from time to time when life allows it!

I guess Twitter is the place to be now. Too bad I don't feel very comfortable with it yet. I'm not sure if I'm "tweeting" correctly. The few times I've been on there, I don't seem to be actually interacting with anyone but myself. Sigh.

I wish I could be more active here but it's really hard with school and everything. I'm always so busy and usually sick, grr.

Yes, as usual, life tends to get in the way! Sigh.