On the GO

Freecycling at its Best

January 30th, 2008 at 08:20am Andrew Wright

In a previous Go Now article, Aimee Kuelling wrote about collecting a surprisingly large amount of cool but unused stuff around her house.  I’ve certainly experienced a similar situation in the past - finding unused but perfectly good household items I didn’t need anymore and being unsure what to do with them.  For about a year I had a chest freezer in my garage that didn’t have a home - I couldn’t get it into my basement and I didn’t have a place for it to be stored well in my garage.  Unsure what to do with it, I did a little internet research and found out about a program called Freecycling.

Freecycling is a group of people who use a mailing list to post items they don’t need anymore or post requests for items they’re looking for but don’t want to or can’t afford to pay for.  Got a pair of unused end tables?  An old couch?  Clothes that your kids have grown out of?  Clay pots?  You can find someone on Freecycle that’s looking for them.  In the past few days you could see books and refrigerators, dollhouses, ferret cages and bubble wrap asked for and received by random strangers all looking for a better place for their unused stuff.

If you’re looking for the Rockford Area Freecycle group, visit their Yahoo!Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rockford_area_freecycle/  You won’t be disappointed.

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1 Comment Add your own

  • 1. Richard  |  January 31st, 2008 at 6:58 pm

    Hey..I agree that Freecycle is a great concept. But like a lot of others, think that it is a little chaotic. It is also geographically restricted (you’re only supposed to join your local group) and the moderation can sometimes be a bit over zealous.

    I am currently working on a new solution. Just as free but far better in terms of usability and managing localisation. I also firmly believe that you should have the ability to sell stuff if you want to, but selling should still be free and easy. After all, selling stuff still keeps it out of landfill. I think that this will actually encourage more stuff to be reused.

    check us out at www.scoodi.com

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