Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to OPINION
OPINION

In praise of Freecycle

Avatar
Avatar
by dave atkinson
Wed, May 13, 2009 10:38
8
In praise of FreecycleFreecycle logo

Last night I was pondering the problem of our naughty cat ripping open the bin bags and decided a bin was what I needed. A nice, sturdy bin. My first point of call for this kind of stuff is Freecycle (www.uk.freecycle.org). If you haven't been introduced, Freecycle is a mailing-list-based scheme for partnering people that want stuff but don't have it, and people that have stuff they don't want. The aim is to save all that stuff from the landfill; Freecycle call it 'Changing the world one gift at a time'

Simply post a message to the list (WANTED or OFFERED) and more often than not you'll find what you want, or someone to take something off your hands. I've managed to offload countless books, all our duplicate CDs (2x shoegazers get married = lots of radiohead), computer memory, a music keyboard, a bunch of old cycling gear... you name it, someone out there wants it. On the blagging side I've had a folding bike, a garden bench, a Schwinn MTB frame... and a bin. A new record: just 30 mins after posting I was the proud owner of a an East Staffordshire CC metal dustbin, complete with old skool lichen-covered black lid.

Visit www.uk.freecycle.org to find your nearest group. And remember to offer something before you get in there with your demands, it's only polite...

recycling
Freecycle
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

Add new comment

8 comments

Avatar
jezzzer | 15 years ago
0 likes

a pedant writes:

I hope she was a Latina.

Avatar
Shaun Audane | 15 years ago
0 likes

I saw one such beastie at the sprayers last week. They're one of those frames that are nice ornaments but I wouldn't pay good money for one-no matter how pretty!

Avatar
dave atkinson | 15 years ago
0 likes

see if you can find one whose chainstay hasn't snapped... good luck with that 1

Avatar
Shaun Audane | 15 years ago
0 likes

Oooh no, Now I've got the urge for a Kirk precision! 4

Avatar
amazon22 | 15 years ago
0 likes

Downside is that, around here anyway, its used as a free source of products for car booters. Ok, the stuff is still reused, but its not really in the spirit of things.

Avatar
dave atkinson replied to amazon22 | 15 years ago
0 likes
amazon22 wrote:

Downside is that, around here anyway, its used as a free source of products for car booters.

Yeah, we get that a bit too but you can generally tell who really wants the stuff you've got. I always go through and check if anyone's posted a WANTED post for anything I put on

Avatar
TRs Blurb n Blog | 15 years ago
0 likes

I got rid of my old dishwasher through Freecycle. A foxy Latino woman came to pick it up and was so stoked that I was giving it away for free that she gave me a course of Salsa dancing lessons in return!

Avatar
NickInBath | 15 years ago
0 likes

Cannot endorse this highly enough! I won't bore you with my list of lost and found items on Freecycle but we'll just say "hamster cage" and leave it at that.

Latest Comments