Max's Cool Beans
Comment
K1200LT Rider
That's a good use for it. I'm sure it can work out great for a lot of people.
Max the Magnificent
You make good points. But I must say that since I joined my local chapter, I've ...
Don’t re-cycle – free-cycle!
Clive Maxfield
9/24/2010 3:35 PM EDT
I just heard about the most amazing organization that facilitates one's giving and getting stuff for free... I'm now hoping to acquire a really nice antique radio plus I have a bunch of things I no longer need...
My old chum Jay Dowling sent me an email yesterday saying that he'd seen a really cool radio he thought might be of interest to me - a 1952 Superheterodyne Traveler Tube Radio Model 5170 (Nashua). He also included a link to a photo of this little scamp. It looks really, REALLY cool.
Then he said something rather strange: "If you contact the owner and he says you can have it, I'll be happy to pick it up for you and ship it to you." Hmmm, I thought – I must be missing something here." Fortunately, just as I was pondering this poser, Jay called me on the phone and explained all.
Jay had assumed that I would recognize the "FreeCycle" part of the email subject line he'd sent me, and that this would have made everything clear. He was amazed to discover that I'd never heard of FreeCycle and that the rest of his email was therefore a mystery to me.
So the idea is that there's an organization called FreeCycle (www.FreeCycle.org). At the time of this writing the organization boasts 4,864 groups with 7,603,875 members around the world. As you will see from their website, FreeCycle is a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.
When you visit the site, the first thing you see is the "Find a group near you" box as shown below:
I entered "Huntsville, Alabama" (because that's where I live), and within a few minutes I was a proud member of the Huntsville group.
As Jay explained it to me, the way this works is that you send a message to your local group saying what you want to donate (or what you are looking to find). If a member of your local group wants what you are donating (or has what you are looking for) then they contact you and – assuming it's still available – you arrange to meet. The usual case is that the person who is on the receiving end drives round to pick up the item in question.
Isn’t this a GREAT idea? Why have I never heard about this before? I am aquiver with excitement. I hate wasting things and I would much rather give something away to someone who can use it as opposed to throwing it away.
Jay also informed me about a whole bunch of other websites offering low-cost or free stuff – I shall report further on these in a future blog, so watch this space!
My old chum Jay Dowling sent me an email yesterday saying that he'd seen a really cool radio he thought might be of interest to me - a 1952 Superheterodyne Traveler Tube Radio Model 5170 (Nashua). He also included a link to a photo of this little scamp. It looks really, REALLY cool.
Then he said something rather strange: "If you contact the owner and he says you can have it, I'll be happy to pick it up for you and ship it to you." Hmmm, I thought – I must be missing something here." Fortunately, just as I was pondering this poser, Jay called me on the phone and explained all.
Jay had assumed that I would recognize the "FreeCycle" part of the email subject line he'd sent me, and that this would have made everything clear. He was amazed to discover that I'd never heard of FreeCycle and that the rest of his email was therefore a mystery to me.
So the idea is that there's an organization called FreeCycle (www.FreeCycle.org). At the time of this writing the organization boasts 4,864 groups with 7,603,875 members around the world. As you will see from their website, FreeCycle is a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.
When you visit the site, the first thing you see is the "Find a group near you" box as shown below:
I entered "Huntsville, Alabama" (because that's where I live), and within a few minutes I was a proud member of the Huntsville group.
As Jay explained it to me, the way this works is that you send a message to your local group saying what you want to donate (or what you are looking to find). If a member of your local group wants what you are donating (or has what you are looking for) then they contact you and – assuming it's still available – you arrange to meet. The usual case is that the person who is on the receiving end drives round to pick up the item in question.
Isn’t this a GREAT idea? Why have I never heard about this before? I am aquiver with excitement. I hate wasting things and I would much rather give something away to someone who can use it as opposed to throwing it away.
Jay also informed me about a whole bunch of other websites offering low-cost or free stuff – I shall report further on these in a future blog, so watch this space!
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
Max the Magnificent
9/24/2010 3:45 PM EDT
If you know of any websites where one can find free or low-cost "stuff", please share these nuggets of knowledge with the rest of us...
Sign in to Reply
vinyl
9/24/2010 5:50 PM EDT
Craigslist, of course, has a copious free section, along with, depending on the city and size, a dedicated following of packrats ready to pounce on whatever previously-thought-useless goodies you may have
As a friend of mine likes to proclaim: "Scarcity is a lie."
Sign in to Reply
Baolt
9/26/2010 8:01 PM EDT
@Clive, thanks for post, really interesting but fabulous idea, movement. I had lots of things waiting at my garage, indeed useful stuffs which you cant just throw away. interestingly where i live now, in EU, there are local fellows where i can use this chance to make friendship.
Sign in to Reply
Max the Magnificent
9/27/2010 9:16 AM EDT
Someone else commented that with FreeCycle you get to meet some really interesting people. I really think this is an amazing idea ... how come I never heard about it before?
Sign in to Reply
K1200LT Rider
9/30/2010 8:23 AM EDT
I like bringing things in to the local Humane Society thrift shop where their sales benefit all the things they do for animals. Sometimes we give to other thrift shops as well who do good things for people (Goodwill, etc.). Something makes me a little nervous about advertising free things. You never what type of person could come over and see what "other" things you might have around that they are interested in. Besides that, there are flea market and swap meet sellers who will take ANYTHING that they think they can sell. I don't really want to give stuff to people like that. I'd rather bring my things to organizations with worthy causes and keep potential problems away from my house, property and family.
Sign in to Reply
Max the Magnificent
9/30/2010 10:13 AM EDT
You make good points. But I must say that since I joined my local chapter, I've seen a lot of messages bouncing around where someone desperately needs something like a fridge (due say to some disaster like a house fire), and someone else responds that they have one to donate -- and then the grateful thanks afterwords -- and it all seems to work quite well...
Sign in to Reply
K1200LT Rider
9/30/2010 11:05 AM EDT
That's a good use for it. I'm sure it can work out great for a lot of people.
Sign in to Reply