I belong to a few “Freecycle groups” in the city where I live. It’s a great idea frankly, the free exchange between people who give things/items away just so they’ll be reused again, as opposed to having the items being trashed.The mission statement according the general website http://www.freecyle.org/ “is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”
The idea of free-cycling began in May, 2003 by Deron Beal of Tucson, Arizona. Again, according to the website’s history description; Beal sent out the first e-mail announcing The Freecycle Network to between 30-40 friends and a handful of nonprofits in Tucson, Arizona.
At the time Deron founded The Freecycle Network, he worked with a small nonprofit organization, RISE, which provides recycling services to downtown businesses and transitional employment to Tucsonans in need. As Deron and his crews recycled, rather than watching perfectly good items being thrown away, they found themselves calling or driving around to see if various local nonprofits could use them.
Thinking there had to be an easier way, Beal set up that first Freecycle e-mail group in a way that permitted everyone in Tucson to give and to get. Freecycle was off and running.
The Freecycle concept has since spread to over 50 countries, where there are thousands of local groups that have more than a million members – truly a grassroots wildfire of people helping people by “changing the world one gift at a time.” As a result, we are currently keeping approximately 50 tons a day out of landfills!
By giving freely with no strings attached, members of The Freecycle Network help instill a sense of generosity of spirit as they strengthen local community ties & spirit. People from all walks of life have joined together to turn trash into treasure.
As a result, packrats like me can give away our stuff without the little known fear of our relatives pawing over our goods when we pass away; it’s also a great way to clean out my car! In all seriousness however, I’ve began to get rid of stuff that I’ve accumulated over the many years slowly, but surely and it seems to do the trick too.
People are so happy to receive items, things they’ve been looking for and can really use. In some people’s cases, finances are kind of tight these days, so for a recycling market like Freecycle, I‘d say the chances are finding the most essential and basic item needs are out there for the taking are pretty good!
Through Freecycle, I’ve been able to get usable things like milk crates, a teapot, winter coats, shirts, pants, CDs, DVDs, food, books, costumes, combination CD, cassette & radio players & mousetraps (especially when I had my mega-mouse problem late last winter!), plus a whole load of other stuff.
I’ve also been able to ask for other things for other people who live on fixed incomes. There’s also a section where users can sell items too. For the most part people in general are pretty friendly and forthcoming and will usually email back advice if an item someone is looking for is especially hard to find.
I’ve met some great friendly folks during these exchanges, including a couple of potential dating prospects and I’ve even made some friends along the way, how wonderful is that!
The biggest disadvantage I have, along with others is not having a computer at home or work I can go onto and claim something, as usually it’s first come-first served basis. Sometimes I feel lucky when I’ve gotten something, while other times I feel sad when I’ve missed out, but so it goes, what was not meant to be, was not meant to be.
In many cases when I send an email requesting an item, I also insert my phone number within the email. As I’ve learned through time & experience, I’m not always going to be hanging around a computer waiting for an answer, kind of like the way men & women hang around the telephone waiting for a crucial call or a potential date to call them back.
And then there are those who receive items who can get downright persnickety about free items offered. Some people can be downright rude and selfish about their items they’ve been promised. It seems to be a common theme or trend than runs through Freecycle regularly.
Bargain-hunters sometimes forget when items are free as well. People do forget who is passing out the goods and it’s as if they want it their way by making insane demands, send threatening remarks, display adult-sized temper tantrums or pout when they can’t have their way through an email; imagine that!
Then there are those who say they will pick up an item (this writer included) and then don’t for some reason or another, even if the other person has worked out their schedule for the benefactor. Sometimes stuff comes up. That’s not an excuse, but a reality of life. And the stuff then just gets re-posted or donated, so it seems to be no big loss.
As for those who post and pass out the goods (this writer included), some have specific rules about getting their items either now or never or pick-up on certain days while others have funny schedules that they must work around in order to give those free things away.
The benefactors usually will work with the free givers, and vice-versa. They also have to remember that being a benefactor is just that; you might have been promised an item, but again you don’t go around making email threats or pouts just because YOU cannot have the item when it was promised!
People do have lives to lead just as others do and people do get thrown off the beaten track from time to time, so you have to give them a little room to breathe in that sort of situation. You cannot expect them to revolve around your world; in fact it should be the opposite. The benefactor should be darn grateful that they are getting a free item that they might have had to pay for in a shop elsewhere.
As getting an item for free isn't a free-for-all situation like money flying through the air from money bags that have been ripped apart by the wind, a try to remember to be polite, be courteous, prompt and reasonable too. Givers will remember you next time for certain!
For the time I’ve been within the two groups, I’ve only had two that have balked; I’d say for the record overall, that’s pretty damn good!
As the cliché reads; beggars cannot be choosers and so goes the application to Freecyclers everywhere; can’t adhere to the system or people? Get out! Don’t screw it up for everyone else making an effort to make a good system work. Don’t be greedy and attempt to hoard everything offered. Let other people have a chance at some of the stuff. Remember to follow other people’s rules and instructions; it’s their stuff to pass out, not yours.
Above all and most importantly, follow each Freecycle’s site/group rules and instructions; they are usually listed on the website when you join. Leave the attitudes behind and above all, work together! Make Freecycle, a great organization that started out on a grassroots level, a good system for future prospective people.
Isn’t that what sharing is all about?
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