The wonderful world of Freecycle. Oh, you haven’t heard of it? It is time to get in the loop.
What is Freecycle?
Plainly put, Freecycle is a place where you can find items (for FREE) that others in your area are giving away that they no longer need. The catch? You have to pick it up! Yep, that is it! It’s free. Better yet, getting ready to move? Or maybe doing some Spring Cleaning? Don’t want to send all that usable stuff to the dump or haul it to goodwill?
Then you can list the stuff you want to part with by posting an Offer. You will get replies, choose the person or person(s) (depending on if you are listing several items) you wish to gift your item to, respond to them letting them know they are the lucky recipient of the item(s), and when you are available for them to come pick it up.
What kind of stuff has been posted on Freecycle?
Anything from household knick-knacks to furniture, cars, and even a house has been listed on Freecycle. Although the bigger ticket items are far less common, those items do get posted occasionally.
How can Freecycle help you?
Service Members and their families move regularly. They are bound by a weight limit on what they can take for free (before they have to pay for being over their not so high weight limit). So what do you do? You get rid of stuff, usually in a garage sale, and then what doesn’t sell is usually left on the curb only to be headed to the dump.
What if you could list that item and someone who needs it could come by and pick it up. Now you won’t feel so bad for leaving that stuff behind when you have to move.
When you arrive at your new duty station, you may find you need some things. Look on Freecycle. Think about the money you will save.
Freecycle is also another good way to relieve some stress. How, you ask? Simple, it helps you to de-clutter your life errrr….house. Getting rid of stuff you don’t need is like lifting a weight off your shoulders, all the while helping someone else who may need what you don’t. It feels great to give (it can become addicting).
OK so how do I find a Freecycle Group?
That is the simple part. First, Freecycle groups are within Yahoo groups so all you need to join is a yahoo screen name. Second, go to http://www.freecycle.org and type in your city and state to find a group near you. It’s just that easy.
After you join give it a week or two to see how the group flows, so you can get a feel for it. Usually, if you want to post something to give away you would put OFFER: TV – (your location such as Edgewood) within the subject line and then within the body you would describe it more in detail, etc… Very simple.
So have fun and enjoy decluttering your life.
UPDATE: Freecycle has changed the way it does things and they are no longer on Yahoo Groups (since Yahoo Groups no longer exists). They are instead on their own website and no longer as active as they once were.
