Don't Recycle....FREEcycle!

I just happened to stumble on this website a few weeks ago:

Freecycle

Its divided up into areas, so you can join the one closest to where you live. Anyway, the idea is that you can post offers locally for stuff that you no longer want...the only rule is that it has to be FREE. For instance, we had this huge old buffet table in the study that Bruce was using for storage. But we cleaned out and reorganized things so that the table was no longer necessary. It was just taking up space. So I posted an offer on Freecycle yesterday afternoon, and got at least 30 or so emails in reply. I went with the first one (first come first serve, I guess...?) and wrote an email. And they came and picked it up this morning. How cool is that??? Not only did we not have to carry it or transport it, the guy admitted that he wanted to use it in his study for storage...haha. It should be good for that. It has had a lot of practice.

You can make "wanted" posts on there, too. I think the rules limit you to 1 want a day. But honestly, I just want to get rid of stuff, so I have no plans to make posts trying to accumulate MORE things. The system worked so efficiently though that now I am thinking about what I can offer next....I wouldn't go to the trouble for anything really small. Although I have seen a few posts listing some pretty odd things. One was for a partially used 32 oz bottle of prune juice. Apparently they only used a little and then ...? I don't think I want to know. Who wants an opened bottle of juice though? Even if it is FREE. You don't really know where that juice has been. I seriously would not offer used/opened food items. Also, I have seen some pretty big WANTS, as well. A few people were asking for laptops and tv's. washer and dryers, and even a dishwasher. Good luck with that. But it is a cool concept. I see a lot of offers for gently used children's clothing and sports equipment. As fast as kids grow, I think its really good to share those kinds of things that can be used again.