So about a year ago I joined an online community- Freecycle.org
It is a free service which started out as a way to keep the environment green and keep things out of the landfills. It serves many purposes.
You Offer: If you got junk- you don't need and someone might need it. (one mans treasure....)
You Request (want): If you need something - that is too hard to come by, or you cant afford new and cant find used.
When spring and fall come and we all clean out our closets, garages, yards, basements, tool sheds, and find all that stuff, stuff stuff, there is now a great way to get rid of it! Without holding a yard sale, without hauling it to the thrift store or the dump, you find someone looking for that very thing.
When you need that one doodad that cant be found anywhere, when your significant other or child wants a certain unknown no-where on earth replica of an action figure that they had when they were two and it is no longer for sale anywhere...
No worries- just hop on the freecycle.org bandwagon and you just might get rid of what you have and find what it is you are looking for. It really is a great idea. you wouldn't believe the things you see on there.
Just the other day a man was posting asking for goats, or sheep, something to put on the land he had just purchased. Last year, there was a horse up for offer- someone who didn't have the money to board it, there is crazy stuff but it is also really great!
well, other than endorsing this site for free-
Here is the reason I bring it up today:
Yes that is yours truly- front page of the local newspaper.. I suppose that the link will expire at some point so I will post a copy:
Shani Green of Pleasant Grove holds up a dress she got for free from a north Utah County Freecycle list-serve.Friday, 03 October 2008
'Freecycling' gaining ground in Utah
Caleb Warnock - DAILY HERALD
If you need to get rid of, or just need, a goat, piano, flower bulbs, satin dress, grapes -- anything, really -- chances are, your neighbor has it or wants it. Freecycle, an online community of people who give away what they don't need in an effort to keep trash out of the landfill, is thriving in Utah Valley.
A north county group, called Lehi Freecycle, has more than 2,500 members, while the Provo group boasts more than 5,000 and the Spanish Fork group has 852. Globally there are almost six million members in 4,600 regional groups.
"It's awesome," said Carolyn Nelson of Lehi, who has been freecycling for years. "The best thing I've gotten is a piano. People say 'I have peaches that need to be made into jam today' -- just about everything imaginable."
Nelson said she recently gave away the contents of her kitchen, which she is having remodeled. Moving from Colorado to Utah, she gave away all the furniture she could not take, she said. A popular freecycle item is moving boxes.
"All of this stuff would have been hauled to the dump," she said. "And if you need something, you just post it there and people have it laying around."
"This is about the best thing since sliced bread," said Shani Green of Pleasant Grove. "It keeps way too much good stuff out of the landfills, ensures it is going to a family who needs it, and helps us all get rid of and haul off things that we may never think to or be able to haul away."
Emily Peery "owns" the Lehi Freecycle group, meaning she is one of four volunteer moderators who approve posts, mediate disputes and kick anyone deemed hostile off the Web site. About once every three months, the four north county moderators get together for lunch to review the success and goals of the process.
"You used to know the neighbors well enough that if you had a couch you could say, Who needs one? But now people are connected a little less," Peery said.
While getting free things is nice, the group has a specific purpose, she said.
"People focus on the free, but the real focus is the cycle," she said. "The purpose of freecycle is to reuse goods and keep them out of landfills. It is a very environmental organization."
Peery said she has given away perhaps hundreds of things, including a hide-a-bed, office chair, lamps, computer and monitors, televisions, back massager, unused Christmas gifts, clothes and fabric, baby stuff and "lots of little things."
In a typical week in Utah County, dozens of items are likely to be given away. Peery said most of the time the process is smooth, and moderators only occasionally have to resolve a dispute, usually when two people have accidentally been promised the same thing. Only a few times in the past two or three years have people been kicked off the site, usually for demanding things from people, she said.
People are not allowed to post their addresses on the Web site, and are discouraged from posting their phone numbers.
"It is an online group and any crazy stalker person could be on," she said. "What I recommend is that when someone is responding to you [via e-mail] you have a couple of communications with them to see if they are respectful and polite. It gives you some interaction before you jump into this.
"You kind of have to use your brain a little, you have to think it through a little, but that is the other reason why we try to keep as small a group as possible. The smaller it is the safer it feels."
Before giving her address to people, Peery said she uses the interested person's e-mail address to search their history on the freecycle site.
"And you get to know people who you recognize from their posts," she said.
For information on freecycling in Utah Valley, search for "Lehi Freecycle," "Provo Freecycle," or "Spanish Fork Freecycle" online.
Lehi Freecycle experiences:
"At the beginning of the summer, the poles to our swing set were bending from the rust and would soon break.¬ I priced new poles at the local metal shop, but they would have cost more than a new swing set.¬ So I posted a 'wanted' note on freecycle for swing set poles.¬ Someone responded that they were throwing away their old swing set and would be happy to give us the poles -- less for them to haul away.¬ It turned out, the family had the exact same swing set we do, so the replacement poles fit perfectly.¬ The poles would have gone to the landfill.¬ Instead we are getting some more use out of them.¬ That's what freecycle is all about."
-- Becky Kendall, Lehi
"I learned about freecycle from a blog I was on after breaking my ankle a couple of years ago. At that time, I was able to receive a foot massager for my healing ankle, as well as a treadmill for when I became full-weight-bearing again.¬ I have received things such as beds, chest of drawers, sewing table for my mom, exercise equipment, a rabbit hutch and more.¬ I told my friend about it and they ended up with a hot tub.¬ We have cleared our house of many things such as bags of clothes, old scooters,¬ a swimming pool."¬
-- Carlin Hadlock, Saratoga Springs
"During this troubling time when ... everything feels a bit unstable it's nice to know that we can all help each other. Passing it on, paying it forward, however you look at it we can make someones day, even if it's just by giving away stuff in our house we don't use."
-- Jennifer Morrison
"I coordinate the Lehi Sub-4-Santa.¬ I have been letting all of the recipients know about Lehi Freecycle in the hopes that they would be able to find things they really needed throughout the year. Many of the needs were met. ...¬ It is a win-win situation. I had an old wood-burning stove that I really didn't want to throw out to the dump.¬ It still works fine.¬ A freecycler needed one for their mother and came with a truck and strong men and took it away.¬ I was very pleased."
--¬ Linda Turner
"I was able to get a lot of wood that someone wanted out of their yard and take it to my friend who needs all the wood she can to heat her house all winter. Also, my daughter was able to get a dress to wear to her prom last year, that there is no way we could afford otherwise. A lot of the reason that I love freecycle is the fact that not only is it keeping things out of the landfill, but I am beginning to hate the local thrift stores -- it seems that the stuff that people really need isn't getting into the store."
-- Shani Green, Pleasant Grove
"I love freecycle because you feel as if you are genuinely helping people by giving them items they may not be able to purchase, and in turn you clean out your house.¬ There's something about giving something away that makes you feel good, and makes you feel even better when it's out of your way!"¬
-- Shelly Thompson, Lehi
*************************
uggh did I really show my age by saying 'sliced bread'? I take it back! It is Sick- Sick I say! I'm hip, I'm up with the times.... there really is no hope for me is there?
Wow, that's awesome! So, who is getting married? :)
ReplyDeleteNo-one is getting married! Thank god! My daughter wore it to a school dance- we spiffed it up. Made it look a little less 'wedding'.
ReplyDeleteThanks- You should check this site out in your area.