<p>I belong to one Freecycle list, and am just amazed sometimes at what I find being given away, and am equally amazed at what I can unload! </p>
<p>Anyone else a fan?</p>
<p>Yes, and I love it!</p>
<p>I joined Freecycle on Earth Day this April, and since then I have given away quite a few items. It’s of course more of a hassle than just throwing the stuff out, but I do feel good knowing that I’m keeping material out of the landfill. I have found that anything educational that my daughter has aged out of is particularly in demand. Teachers and home schoolers are eager for unused notebooks, journals, science items, craft supplies, etc.</p>
<p>I am also an avid fan. I have used it to get rid of an old stove, some children’s sheets, a phone, and a couple other things, and I have received a desk for my son, an exercycle, a dresser for my Little Sister, and some clothing. I think it is a wonderful idea!</p>
<p>I’ve used freecycle to find new homes for used furniture, a fish tank, and a driveway freestanding basketball hoop. This is so much easier than trying to sell things at garage sales, and the Goodwill won’t even take furniture unless it’s practically perfect. I think it’s great. This reminds me that I have a some nice toys set aside that I need to post on freecycle, finally released from my son’s latest room purging.</p>
<p>When I give things away I just take them to a local charity for them to sell and raise money or I put them by the street with a ‘Gratis’ sign on it - it disappears fairly quickly.</p>
<p>I have gotten rid of a considerable amount of items that were purely clutter in my home – old windows and screens after replacement (People wanted them for cold frames.), old landscaping edging material – all kinds of stuff that would have been problematic/inappropriate to dispose of otherwise.</p>
<p>The people I have met through it are a nice side benefit.</p>
<p>I love freecycle…but I’ve moved out of Oakland where freecycle was active to Woodland and I’ve almost given up posting on freecycle as I never get any response to things I’m giving away and end up posting on craigslist(and then I get lots of responses…)</p>
<p>I used to do freecycle a lot (got rid of tons of my daughter’s toddler toys–big plastic slides, cars, etc.). We also received a lot of wonderful, age appropriate toys (huge dollhouses, 25 ‘my little ponies’ when she was into that…!). </p>
<p>These days I’m finding that I can sell a box of her stuff (misc toys/clothes/books) on Craigs List for $5. The families who buy are very appreciative (it’s almost like giving it away) but we make a tiny bit of money that way.</p>
<p>wow, I never heard of freecycle – what a terrific idea. I live in Denver, in an area where putting items next to dumpsters, in alleys, is common. No need to put a sign on it, it’s understood the item is being given away. (This being Colorado, the items are often skis and snowboards :)) It disappears quickly. To have an entire national network dedicated to freecycling is pretty cool. Another thing I learned on CC</p>
<p>I tried giving away things with our local freecycle, but like Jolynne, it’s sometimes easier just to post it on ebay - less coordination.</p>
<p>At this point, I don’t really need to acquire much of anything !!</p>
<p>Also, our freecycle is about 50 % “wanted” ads now, and sometimes that’s a turn-off, IMO.</p>
<p>I discovered Freecycle when we were moving about 2 years ago. The local paper had just run a big article on it. We got rid of some large pieces of furniture that we didn’t need for our new house. I’m a huge fan – as I continue to sort out stuff in the basement, I continue to post. I’ve also used the “Free” section on Craigslist a few times. It feels good knowing I’m not just throwing out items that are still in decent shape. For example, I cleaned out my kids’ “art cupboard” when we moved, and an inner city teacher picked up the whole box of supplies for her classroom.</p>