A proud free-cycler

"What is a free-cycler?" you ask?

According to the website Freecycle.org there are about 2.25 million members of about 3,500 freecycle online communities. Membership is free and it involves signing up to an email list that distributes offers and requests for free items that might otherwise end up in the trash.

I heard about Freecycle probably through a news report and signed up many months ago. While I monitored what was offered in my community, I didn't participate until I had a set of vertical blinds to get rid of. I'd tried selling them in a garage sale, but got little interest. There were in really good shape and the idea of throwing them away was painful to me. They were too cumbersome to store, and they probably would have gotten ruined (in transport and storage) if I'd donated them to charity.

So I turned to freecycle. Within a day of posting the vertical blinds, I had emails from half a dozen people eager to give my blinds a good home. (There are about 350 people in my local group.) I picked one person to respond to, set up a time for her to pick them up, and another day later, they were gone. I felt good, and the lady who took the blinds was thrilled to have them.

I won't hesitate to freecycle again.