Somehow I happened upon this interesting online community through Yahoo! Groups called The Freecycle Network(tm). This green takeoff on donating your unwanted, unused items to thrift stores or having garage sales promotes keeping landfill waste down via the open sharing of items with your neighbors.
Need a new set of silverware? Post a "Wanted" message asking for whatever your heart desires. Have something you need to get rid of but you just can't bear to see it hit the bottom of the trash can (and the top of the landfill pile)? Post an "Offer" message and watch someone give it a new home - and a new life. ONLINE GROUP COURTESY MESSAGE: If your "Offer" has been accepted by another Freecycler, be sure to post a polite "Taken" message celebrating its success! Also, a kind "Recieved" message is always nice.
After scoping out the Springfield Freecycle Network, I was pleased to see that we're quite active about sharing the love of free stuff with our neighbors. Over 57,000+ messages have been posted on our local group, and you'd be amazed at what you can find. Here's a sampling of just a few of the things I found during my recent visit to Freecycle:
- Wanted: Manure for our garden, Springfield 65803
- Offer: 53 bottles for beads
- Taken: 4 drawer dresser
- Offer: Full size box spring and mattress
- Taken: Huge bag mixed clothes (65806)
- Received: 2 blankets
(DISCLAIMER: I do think that if I were to Freecycle, I'd treat it like a blind date. Maybe it doesn't hurt to have backup along just in case. Plus, friends always make it more fun.)
