One man's trash...

For anyone who has discovered treasures in the trash or thought it was a shame how people could just throw out perfectly good and useful items, here's a site you may want to check into. Freecycle.com is a not-for-profit site with a unique goal: helping individuals with possessions they no longer want or need find others who have a need for what they have. Essentially, a Freecycler (a member of the Freecycle community) with goods to give posts a description of their items on the site. Members who need those items contact the poster directly through the site's message generator. Similarly, individuals who have need of something post a request to the site and are contacted by members who have that item to offer.

The goal of this undertaking is to reduce landfills by recycling goods for free (hence the name Freecycle) The concept is simple, elegant and, here's the best part, it's all FREE! It is a requirement of membership in Freecycle that no money, goods or services be exchanged. Everything given must be done so with no strings attached.

I have been a member of FreeCycle for about a month. In that time, I have been able to find new homes for my children's old jigsaw puzzles, juvenile wallpaper trim, old computer equipment and cut glass chandelier chimneys. I have received 2 Palm Pilots, a cordless computer keyboard and mouse, a computer game, white laminate shelving complete with hardware, a printer, a load of scrapbooking supplies, a boxed set of yoga video tapes, 9 magazine holders, a box of quilting magazines, a computer power station. All for free, all fully functional. Most were used, some with very minor dings but others were still brand new in their packages. I found that people tended to give accurate descriptions of the goods and my experience included no misrepresentations.

The New York FreeCycle groups are divided by boroughs. The group you are eligible to join is based on your address. The other members of your group are relatively local to you, making it easier to arrange for pickup of goods. This is an unbelievable resource that is available to anyone with a computer. The list of things you can find is incredible and I urge you to take a peek at the site: www.freecycle.com. Happy FreeCycling!