By Amy L. Hatch
When I cleaned out my kitchen clutter last week (and yes, the work area/counter is still clean, thanks for asking), it set off a tiny explosion of de-cluttering throughout the whole kitchen.
Freecycle is a great way to get stuff out of your house and into the hands of someone who can use it. Image courtesy of Yahoo!
I even got down under the sink and to get rid of old cleaning products and my random collection of glass vases from flower deliveries over the years.
I also found a stash of kitchen towels under there — I must have gone through a phase where I needed a lot of dish towels. I already have two drawers full and I found at least another 15 stowed under the sink.
So I had these towels and these vases, two things I didn’t want to offload on Goodwill. Then I also found my stash of baby bibs (my bad pennies, remember?). Suddenly, a light bulb went off.
When I last wrote about the baby bibs, someone suggested I join Freecycle. This is a great swap service, generally administered via a Yahoo! group, where you list your stuff and someone else raises their hand and says, “Hell, YES, I want that big ball of string you’re trying to get rid of!”
I’m no stranger to Freecycle. I used it often back when I lived in Rochester and I got rid of all kinds of stuff: an extra hand-mixer, duplicate wedding gifts with no receipts, etc. etc. Some people get freaked out by the idea that a stranger shows up at your door, but you can always arrange to meet someplace neutral.
This week I went looking on Google for the Champaign-Urbana Freecycle group. One half-second later, I was signing up for the group and waiting to be confirmed as a member. The first things I’m going to list? BABY BIBS.
Other items I plan to Freecycle in the very near future: A bundle of random craft supplies (who was I kidding with that?), the dish towels, the vases and some baby items, including but not limited to an excellent Dr. Brown’s formula pitcher and a bath tub.
How about you? Have you used Freecycle? If you have, please share your experience in the comments.
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Amy…
kudos on your efforts. I have a lot of perennials (want some starters?) and in the summer I like to make gifts out of blossoms. If you have vases to spare, I will take them!
AMBER (works with Laura)
I haven’t used it, but it might be nice to know that the person you give something to really appreciates it, instead of dropping a load off at Goodwill and not knowing what happen.
I too had tons of vases from flower deliveries, those things add up. I wish I lived near you because I am in need of some bibs, but it is because I can’t find the ones I want.
oooo what kind of craft stuff do you have?
A couple weeks ago I only used Freecycle for “PURGE,” my own “Living with Less” http://tinyurl.com/y9w2v8o with some great results. Got rid of a lot of random stuff. So I’m sure your stuff, even the bad pennies will go fast!
Freecycle is great! (unless your significant other really thinks you need piles of old wood or old exercise equipment on a regular basis). It is really great at the holidays! You also get to meet some really great people you might otherwise never encounter.
I’ve had great experiences with Freecycle.
I’ve been on the McLean County Freecycle for years. It is good and bad. When it works, it’s awesome. We have received dining room chairs that JUST SO HAPPEN to be identical to the chairs my grandparents had in their dining room 30 years ago. We also received a piano. I’ve gotten boxes of clothing for my nieces. I have given away TONS of things. Drafting tables, computer desks, clothes, toys, our entire VHS collection. So that part is great.
The not so great part is making an appointment with someone and having them not show. Getting demanding and poorly written e-mails. People insisting I CALL THEM NOW. People who expect me to deliver into BloNo and drop off the face of the earth when I won’t, even though everytime I post I clearly state PICK UP IN LE ROY.
Even though I own a consignment store, I freecycle ALL THE TIME! It’s wonderful! But I agree with the above comment… no shows really stink! I have actually made a few friends with the people coming to pick up items, and we still stay in touch!
With 4 kids, not all my items are good enough to make it to my store
With Freecycle, I know that it is going to someone who could really use it and not just dumped!
I really support the efforts of freecycle. We just moved from the Chicago area and I had so many things that I didn’t want to move with me but I wanted to get rid of. It makes me sick to think of all the stuff that ends up in the mountains of landfill. I have put really odd things on and they get taken! I had the book jackets from a bunch of my daughters books. I thought they were too pretty to throw out so I put them on Freecycle and someone was happy to have them. Give it a try. It is a great thing, can be inconvenient, but great.