Freecycling

Do you know about this? I discovered it some time ago and have been enamored of the idea since. Just the other day I discovered that there is a local group of Freecyclers so I signed up.

Freecycle Network is a not for profit movement designed to keep stuff out of landfills. It's about reusing things that still have good use. It is totally free to join.

I have a number of baby oriented items that I need to move on now that the children are older. They aren't worth listing on Trade Me (my ambivalent feelings about that site aside) and yet somebody could use them. Most of the folks I know no longer need the items in question so I can't pass them on to a friend like I normally would.

So last week I put on an old LL Bean backpack we were given. It was worn, faded and hardly flash, but I had lots of interest in it. I also offered a baby recliner/rocker thing that we'd had for 4 years. Again - heaps of interest. It gave me a good feeling to choose someone to give these items to, and know that they would be used rather than go into landfill. Haven't managed to pas on my pile of maternity sewing patterns yet :-)

Why not see if there is a freecycling group in your area?

The types of things being offered are varied. So far I've seen fejoas, desks, laptops, fridges, freezers, plastic containers, wooden blinds, Kodak Camera dock and net curtains.
You can also ask for things. So far the wanted items have been varied too! Clothes, fridges, freezers, modems, fejoas for wine making, old copper hot water cylinder...

Give it a go!