The Freecycle Movement

I have previously posted about using Freecycle when I was moving my husband and I out of our apartment, but now that I am springcleaning, I am finding myself using Freecycle more and more. Freecycle a movement that is multifaceted: I find it useful in getting rid of clutter, saving money, living green, and even advancing a sense of community.

When you go to Freecycle.org, you will see this following description posted on the homepage:

The Freecycle Networkâ„¢ is made up of 4,793 groups with 7,208,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.

For the most part, Freecyle is set up on Yahoo! Groups, so you will need to have a Yahoo! membership ID in order to participate. There are some communities, like Oakland, CA,   that have stopped using Yahoo! Groups and expanded out to using the My Freecycle platform instead. Before 2009, Yahoo! Groups worked well, but since March 2009, I have noticed that Yahoo! Group has been having problem associated with its search functionality that has not been fixed.

Tips for using Freecycle:

1. People like pictures. Even though you cannot post pictures on Yahoo Group, you can include a link of an image. Most of the time, you will be asked for a picture anyway, so I always include a link to what I am giving away.

2. Remember there is a email digest. Some people get email immediately anytime any one posts, but there are also members who receive a digest or access the postings via the web only. It is generally good practice to post a TAKEN notice after you have successfully given away your item(s), but realize that people might be contacting you after the fact. You will likely get inquiries days, maybe even weeks after your initial post.

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