Earth Day 2011

In honor of Earth Day. I wanted to share with you a wonderful site I happened upon a few short weeks ago.

It is called FreeCycle.org. A friend of mine suggested it our local breast feeding group, in response to people's requests for gardening materials. Free Cycling is a simple idea that has taken Recycling to a whole new level. The theory behind FreeCycle.org is to keep useful items out of landfills, by giving it to people that will use the items you no longer want.

How it works:

1. Go to FreeCycle.org
2. Find your local group
3. Sign in and agree to terms and conditions
4. Post your unwanted items
5. Field your email and schedule a pick up, of the items, by the recipient
6. Review items posted to group
7. Reply to posting that interest you and set up a time to pick items up

This wonderful concept is great for those that use it responsibly. I have heard that our local group isn't the norm, and there are some really great groups out there that follow the rules. One rule that I see getting broken all of the time is someone posting ISO (In Search Of): "Something expensive, ie Xbox, Wii Games, ect." I am not too fond of these postings, and other groups may take the rules more seriously and ban people from posting requests like those.

In my personal experience, you have to be quick on the draw. You have to be able to pick up the item within a short period of time or else it will be given to someone else. I have had much success posting items on there for old baby clothes and other household items that I no longer need. In return, I have received a bale of hay and a baby crib. Granted the crib has a drop side, I can still rig it to be a solid rail. It is great to have a way to get rid of perfectly useful  things and find things in return. And the best part about it, is you are helping save the Earth by Free Cycling your unwanted items.

In honor of Earth Day, check out FreeCycle.org and see if there is a local group near you and then join. Then start spring cleaning your house and Free cycle your usable goods!