FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Environmentally Aware Browsing
A student of mine recommended that I check out a site called Freecycle.org, with the advice that I could pick up all manner of items, from computers to car parts and from fireplaces to books absolutely free of charge. This, it's got to be said, sounded too good to be true but when I gave the site a try I was pleasantly surprised.
Freecycle is an organisation that promotes the free redistribution of things that once were bought or acquired by a current owner who no longer needs or wants them. How often do we find that we throw things out to the tip that, while perhaps being slightly dated or unfashionable, are still in fairly good condition? This, simply because we either can't or don't want to give them away to a charity shop, and perhaps can't be bothered with Ebay due to their extensive charging policy on both ends of the sale. Well, Freecycle now offers an alternative - simply sign up to your local Freecycle group (administrated by Yahoo! Groups) and post a short description of the item(s) that you want rid of and where they can be picked up from. Very soon, you'll almost certainly find that a number of interested parties will approach you and be willing to come to collect the item from your home.
This is what Freecycle say about themselves :
So, the basic premise of the Freecycle system seems to be that there should never be any exchange of money between participants and people should not take items from others with the sole intention of selling those things on (and, therefore, using membership of a Freecycle group as a money-making venture). Indeed, Freecycle is about recycling the things we no longer need by giving them away to someone else who may be able to use them. Items don't even necessarily need to be in working order as long as the full extent of their condition is described in the post - someone with the necessary skill and / or resources may well be able to put the thing to use in any case. Of course, the more common the item, the newer it is and the better its condition the more likely it is that there will be great interest in it.
Certainly a great idea : the website is run using many Yahoo! Groups that are sorted geographically so that the posts you choose to receive will only be from people in your local area. It is free to register and there is no limit on the number of posts you can submit, either to offer an item to the group or to accept something that someone else wants rid of. You are also allowed to make requests for things that you need, although it is slightly frowned upon if you request things without being willing to offer anything first, particularly if you are requesting expensive items.
Freecycle is an organisation that promotes the free redistribution of things that once were bought or acquired by a current owner who no longer needs or wants them. How often do we find that we throw things out to the tip that, while perhaps being slightly dated or unfashionable, are still in fairly good condition? This, simply because we either can't or don't want to give them away to a charity shop, and perhaps can't be bothered with Ebay due to their extensive charging policy on both ends of the sale. Well, Freecycle now offers an alternative - simply sign up to your local Freecycle group (administrated by Yahoo! Groups) and post a short description of the item(s) that you want rid of and where they can be picked up from. Very soon, you'll almost certainly find that a number of interested parties will approach you and be willing to come to collect the item from your home.
This is what Freecycle say about themselves :
"The Freecycle Network™ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people)."
So, the basic premise of the Freecycle system seems to be that there should never be any exchange of money between participants and people should not take items from others with the sole intention of selling those things on (and, therefore, using membership of a Freecycle group as a money-making venture). Indeed, Freecycle is about recycling the things we no longer need by giving them away to someone else who may be able to use them. Items don't even necessarily need to be in working order as long as the full extent of their condition is described in the post - someone with the necessary skill and / or resources may well be able to put the thing to use in any case. Of course, the more common the item, the newer it is and the better its condition the more likely it is that there will be great interest in it.
Certainly a great idea : the website is run using many Yahoo! Groups that are sorted geographically so that the posts you choose to receive will only be from people in your local area. It is free to register and there is no limit on the number of posts you can submit, either to offer an item to the group or to accept something that someone else wants rid of. You are also allowed to make requests for things that you need, although it is slightly frowned upon if you request things without being willing to offer anything first, particularly if you are requesting expensive items.
