Out with the old, in with the free

Freecycle’s online bulletin board can empty your closets Ñ then fill them up again

By Jennifer Willis

The Portland Tribune, Jun 13, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. That familiar adage is at the heart of the online Freecycle network.

When I was getting ready to relocate to Portland from Virginia in 2004, I wanted to reduce my possessions by half. It was an ambitious plan. It was shocking how much stuff I’d amassed in the seven years I’d lived in my home, and there was no way I was hauling all that junk cross country.

I had several yard sales and made nearly daily donations to Goodwill, but I couldn’t keep up with the massive purge.

So I turned to Freecycle.

Freecycle Ñ which combines “free” with “recycle” Ñ started in May 2003 in Arizona to reduce waste in downtown Tucson and prevent the surrounding desert from being overrun by landfills. Now with a network of more than 3,600 groups and 2.3 million members worldwide, this online service is open to individuals and nonprofits alike. Membership is free, by joining the Yahoo group through www.freecycle.org.

Freecycle’s only rule: Everything must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages.

Linking givers and takers

The Freecycle group in Richmond, Va., was pretty new, but as soon as I began posting to the online board, area members emerged who were happy to take my discards.

A young couple claimed my bed frame within a few hours of my posting. Another man who was building a patio cheerfully hauled away the stacks of bricks I had stored in the garage, and took my unwanted clothes dryer, too.

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