CalMAX Spring 2005

Everything is free when you shop the Freecycle Network™. Not unlike the “free box” at your local yard sale, Freecycle Networkis designed to keep useful materials and products out of local landfills.

A viable option to the traditional yard sale, this free electronic service can work in your local community. It provides a mechanism to unite community members, share resources, and protect the environment—and all items posted to the Freecycle Network must be completely free.

For recycling coordinators across the state, this is the easiest waste reduction program one could imagine. It requires no brochures, posters, or ads in the local newspapers. Freecycling is, by all accounts, self-sustaining. Volunteers typically serve as local administrators for the web-based service. It’s a hands-off program for local staff.

Initiated in May 2003 in Tucson, Arizona, the Freecycle Network is a grassroots effort that apparently is sweeping the country. According to the Freecycle web site, there are already 2,062 participating cities and approximately 757,700 members nationwide. In California alone there are now more than 100 Freecycle networks functioning, with a combined membership of 54,500 (more by the time you read this).

How does the Freecycle Network operate?
It’s simple. People merely subscribe to the network by going to www.freecycle.org. This web-based service is provided through Yahoo, and you use your e-mail account to send and receive offers or to list items that you want. When you join, you become part of an e-mail group within the city/region you select. You’ll soon start getting messages from other members looking for new homes for old—but not necessarily worn out—stuff. You can easily track items, because listings are identified in the message subject line as “Offer,” “Taken,” or “Wanted.”

In fact, it seemed so simple that I subscribed to the Sacramento Freecyclers in early January 2005 to see for myself. (This year-old network has nearly 4,500 members.) Here’s what I found, based on three full days of activity:

• Listings included all types of items such as chairs, a piano, desks, kitchenware, a ceiling fan, a basketball hoop, a tabby cat, and much more.
• OFFER ads averaged 25 each day; WANTED, 17 a day; and TAKEN, 16 a day.
• A specific item went from “Offer” to “Taken” in 20 minutes to 24 hours, with an average turnaround time of three to four hours. That’s pretty impressive.

The volunteer administrator was apparently keeping an eye on the network’s activity and reminding the group to follow the rules: They have a “do not” list that includes alcohol, tobacco, firearms, prescription medications, or anything illegal, along with intangible items such as services, jobs, and “people.” This was necessary, the administrator explained, to ensure that the site remained family-oriented and designed for the entire community.

For those interested in learning more, go to www.freecycle.org. There you will find a list of frequently asked questions, information on how to start a local group, how to participate, and also a clever, yet short animated video.

This is a pain-free, trouble-free waste diversion program for any city, county, or joint-powers agency. It serves to remind people just how many items are really available—just for the asking. The Freecycle Network is a community-based and community-driven service bringing people together and serving as a great building block for the community-at-large. The biggest benefits are resource conservation, a new way to keep usable items out of the landfill, and another step toward Zero Waste. We’ve all heard it before, but as the Freecycle Network reminds us, “One person’s trash can truly be another’s treasure!” 

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Last updated: August 01, 2008