Freecycle.org: It really works.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 07.12.07
We do occasionally try to practice what we preach, and had a basement full of stuff that did not move at our garage sale. Having learned about Freecycle on TreeHugger, and watched Mark in action, we signed up and put up a listing, saying “lots of stuff available, come and get it” . We soon got an email saying, no, that is not how it works. Name each item so that people are not running around for nothing, and negotiate a time with the person responding to each item so that people are not just showing up and finding it has gone to someone else. I do as I am told, and suddenly emails are flying, people are taking old books, printers, stereos and snowboards, arriving on time and thankful to be getting them. (although some don't show- I am still waiting for Theresa) I have found happy good homes for my excess baggage and a lot of stuff has been kept out of the dump. Pictured is Mark, a happy customer using an old 486 laptop for a robotics project, picking up a modem. The system works.
Alex Steffen said “there is no such thing as garbage, only useful stuff in the wrong place.” I now monitor what is coming and going, and there are some bizarre things offered, from scrap metal to old bathtubs, and invariably a few days later we see that it is taken. There is clearly someone out there for almost anything, just waiting for a simple system for getting useful stuff into the right place. ::Freecycle.org
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I've used it a lot in the UK, Freecycle is a great idea and as you say, really works.
Is there a simialr service that isn't associated with yahoo?
Since I started Freecycling about 6 months ago, I don't throw away anything that could be potentially reused by someone else (though I'm not one that freecycles starch-based packing peanuts, I wash them down the sink). I even go dumpster-diving to salvage things like a broken dehumidifier that could probably be fixed for a third of the cost of a new one. If I don't fix it, there's someone out there with a damp Michigan basement (rocks and mortar walls, not poured concrete) that would. This spring, I even managed to Freecycle some extra annuals that I had purchased for my garden but ran out of space for.
I'm not a hardcore Freecycler like some. I don't for instance, give something away if I can sell it and ship it relatively inexpensively. By the same token, I don't ask for things that really do have resale value. I ask for things that are hard to find, or the world is beset with so many that the resale value on eBay is next to nothing (baby swing, anyone?).
The people are really the part that makes Freecycling great. As Lloyd said, Freecyclers are almost always prompt to pick up items, and they are always grateful for them. It's the friendliness and mutual exchange of favors that makes Freecycling work so well, and turns us all into happy Freecyclers rather than buy-and-toss consumers.
i love the idea of freecycle, but i wish the way you interacted with it was more like Craigslist. i don't know if every chapter is like this, but at the time i was signed up, the only way to look at what was being offered and post your own was to subscribe to an email list. i was getting tons of email, and it became too much of a distraction from work. i guess i could create a standalone email account just for the list, but it'd be more useful if it were not a push service and had some sort of search capability so i didn't have to wade through the junk posts and other posts offering stuff i don't personally need.
My FREECYCLE account here in Albuquerque lets me stop all emails and just go to the site to read them when I have time. That way I only have to dredge through emails when I have posted something to give. You can also get a daily digest instead of each individual email which helps with the clutter.
If not available from your local FREECYCLE, you should contact the moderator and ask for changes. Don't give up cause FREECYCLE really does a superior job of redistributing your trash to become someone else's treasure and keeps the landfills a bit healthier.
Have used Freecycle several times and still keep in contact with it. There are JUST SO MANY EMAILS, that I don't get to it as often as I should.
It's been a good experience though!
Freecycle is good, but the more open ended Craigslist is even better. With Freecycle there are a lot of arbitrary rules that discourage people from using it. Craigslist isn't perfect, but it's a lot more inclusive and flexible, so you can offer things in whatever way suits you best, which makes it more likely that you'll use it. And Craigslist is self correcting and self policing, while Freecycle usually has one overworked "moderator".
Also, with Craigslist, you can ask for things, in the wanted section, you have the flexibility of saying that you are willing to pay for something or not, which is not alloed on Freecycle, but is very useful if you do really need something and would prefer to save the resources by getting it used.
Hi, i heard about this web site at the Today Show, and i was wondering if this is true, i need funiture and would like to know if free cycle could help me
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/726018/easily_see_your_dna_at_home/
The freecycle moderator in holbrook AZ is asleep or away. I signed up a week ago and still awaiting approval. If someone here knows how to e-slap him awake I would appreciate it
Jeremiah
I really love the idea of freecycle and have used it successfully, but the email has bombarded us! We have tried several times to cancel, but we are told we are no longer members, although the emails continue to pour in!! We have to delete each one individually, so we clean up our email several time consuming times a day. I know I could have started by using a different email, but I'm not all that computer savy.
I really love the idea of freecycle and have used it successfully, but the email has bombarded us! We have tried several times to cancel, but we are told we are no longer members, although the emails continue to pour in!! We have to delete each one individually, so we clean up our email several time consuming times a day. I know I could have started by using a different email, but I'm not all that computer savy.
Freecycle is a good idea, and you can set up your email account to give you mails in digest form. I agree Craig's List has a more flexible format, and you can state your terms for the transaction. But Craig's list people often don't show up, whereas Freecycle people generally do. OTOH, Freecycle moderators are very strict, rigid and can be curt if you don't follow their rules. I think a couple of slip ups will get you tossed off the board. They keep you on moderate forever, or almost. It's a good idea, but not a friendly system.
I refuse to use Freecycle due to email issues and all the hassle to go through to look at various areas near by. Instead I use Craigslist which has same basic use, but does not create such an inconvienance. Sad to say, but why go a more difficult route when an easier one is available and still helps the root cause.
You should check out http://www.snaffleup.co.uk if you are in the UK. It's a hell of a lot easier to use than FC.
There is a site called www.brokenequipment.com
that is new. You can post any kind of Broken
Equipment or browse ads for Broken Equipment.
It is also free to use. No sign needed just post
up any Broken Equipment you have.
Freecycle is a really useful site, i've used it many times. I don't like that you have to sign up for Yahoo in order to use it though. I've been looking around at other free classifieds sites, and there is a new one call freuse (www.freuse.com) that looks a lot easier. Hopefully it will catch on.