Freecycle - Good and Bad
by Robert Peal
Freecycle is a free Internet mailing list for giving away things you don’t want anymore. Why would you want to give away stuff for free to strangers? Primarily to help the environment, but also for good karma. Over 99% of all computers are in landfills, ironically most of them were tossed out fully working because the owner decided to upgrade to a newer or faster model. Why not give away the computer to somebody else who might be able to put it to good use? The same logic applies to most of the other things you own and no longer need.
Freecycle was started in Arizona in May 2003 by environmentalist Deron Beal. Now it has more than four million members worldwide. To become a Freecycle member go to the website http://www.freecycle.org/ and sign up for the Freecycle groups in your area. You will receive a set of rules and procedures and be added to the local mailing list. You’ll quickly get lots and lots of emails describing things people are offering or things they want. The key rule is you are not allowed to sell anything or ask for any money for what you’re giving away. The stuff you’re giving away is stuff which you don’t otherwise want yourself but is of use to somebody else. You should not offer to sell totally useless things which are just garbage; but of course what somebody considers garbage somebody else may consider a treasure. You can also ask for items, but be practical and reasonable. In particular new folks who sign up and immediately ask for everything are frowned upon.
Many of the items offered are partially functional or need some work. For example, a clock radio where the cassette player doesn’t work but the radio still works, or a television set which may be able to be repaired.
There are things which apparently nobody’s interested in. I tried to give away some dot matrix printers but got no takers, so they did end up in the garbage. But occasionally somebody will ask for something which many folks would automatically trash like old magazines or egg carton containers for a crafts project.
Unfortunately Freecycle is often abused in many ways. I’m appalled at the people who ask for cars, mobile homes, and other high value items expecting that somebody just happens to have ones which they don’t need and are willing to give away for free. Others mark messages "must read" and give a sob story about how badly off they are and they need everything. While this may be true, it certainly isn’t a "must read" for me. I’ll read messages where somebody requests something I’ve got extras of which I don’t mind giving away and offers for items I’m interested in obtaining. But I’m certainly not going to read a "must read" message and give them what I hadn’t already intended to give away just because the person has a sob story.
When I offered a computer on Freecycle one person said, "You’re a far distance from me, could you meet me half way?" Why should I drive out of my way to meet you? I decided to give it to somebody else. Somebody else responded, "If you have a better newer computer than the one you offered can you keep me in mind?" Sure I’ll keep you in mind as somebody who expects me to go out of my way to help them out. Others have asked me for assistance which I didn’t offer - the equivalent of running into a doctor at a party and asking for free medical advice.
One of the biggest abuses is to obtain free items from Freecyle and then sell them for cash. Fortunately this doesn’t appear to happen very often.
Freecycle is designed for actual products and pets are permitted within the rules. But occasionally you can find information which may be helpful. For example, one person asked for a Macintosh USB mouse. I told her that a Windows USB mouse would also work on her Mac.
The golden rule for Freecycle is don’t upset the person who’s offered something. They’re going to the effort to make something they own available for free. If you want it you should not ask them to deliver it to you, rearrange their schedule to make it easier for you to pick it up, help you get it working, be upset if they decide to give it to somebody else, or anything else.
One of the biggest problems is ‘no shows’. Somebody agrees to come by at a certain time to pick up the items from you and doesn’t show up without informing you that they’re going to break the appointment. If you can’t make an appointment for a pickup send an email or phone call apologizing as quickly as possible so they don’t have to wait all evening or wonder whether or not you’re going to show up. Unfortunately some people just don’t comprehend that your time is valuable, even if you’re giving something away and they should be considerate.
There are also others who abuse Freecycle – asking for everything and giving nothing or almost nothing in return. It’s amusing to see somebody ask for Christmas decorations in November and offer the same decorations in January and believe that they’re in the spirit of Freecycle.
When you see something on Freecycle you’re interested in you’ve got to make the decision whether or not it’s worth the effort to get it. Even though it’s free it’s going to take time and energy on your part, and transportation. It certainly isn’t worth driving 20 miles to pick up a water bottle unless you’re already going to be going to that area for another reason.
But even with all of these abuses and limitations I consider Freecycle to be a wonderful resource. Many of the things I’ve given away would otherwise have ended up in landfills and I’ve had some wonderful finds.
So what can you get from Freecycle? Among other items I’ve gotten a love seat, a bed frame, ink cartridges for my printer, a television set for a friend, an entertainment center, a bread maker, and an electric orange juicer. I’ve given away computer components, a couch, printers, an electric typewriter, and a VCR.
Links
www.freecycle.org
About the author
Robert Peal has been interested in the environment since he was a kid and reuses and recycles wherever he can.
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