Re-Use resource #1: Freecycle

To be successful in the re-use economy you have to know your resources. Because yes we will need to purchase things over the next year and if we had to make everything ourselves it would be a long year. So our first resource is Freecycle. It is a Yahoo group that you can join for your area. Once you join you will start receiving e-mails titled OFFER and WANTED. People post things they are trying to give away: half a can of paint, moving boxes, couches, even kitens. Or you can post things you want. The key is everything is FREE! We have used this a few times over the past year with lots of success.

The first time we posted was when we got back from x-mas last year and I had left my cell phone charger back East. I could have gone out and bought one for $25 but it seemed silly becuase mine was sitting at Starlight waiting for me to come and get it in the summer. So I posted on Freecycle that I was looking for a motorola razor cell phone charger. Within a day I had a couple of responses from people who had gotten new phones and how had nothing to do with their old chargers. I got two chargers without paying for them and two chargers were saved from going to the landfill. Now that is a deal.

We have also posted offering items. After our wedding we had many wonderful gifts. However these gifts came overly packaged, tripple boxed, gift wrapped, bubble wrapped, you name it. We ended up with 10 garbage bags of bubble wrap and many many many boxes. We posted it on Freecycle and within a day some lucky mover showed up and picked it all up.

Here in Ann Arbor you can post for porch pick up and you leave the item on your porch and the person can come and get it when they want and you never have to meet them (or more importantly wait around for them).

To find cool stuff in your neighborhood and save stuff from the landfill check out Freecycle in your neighborhood http://www.freecycle.org/

Ok, I'm off to go shower, where I'll be listening to the shower radio we got on freecycle!