Save Money While Saving the Planet?

Answer 1

You can use items in your home that you no longer want to participate in your local Freecycle Network. Freecycle provides a free way for you to save money by helping you swap stuff you don't need for stuff you do need with other people in your community. The Freecycle Network has nearly 10,000 volunteers and is one of the largest recycling and reuse organizations in the world. Their mission statement sums up their intention: “Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”

Created seven years ago by Deron Beal, The Freecycle Network has grown into a worldwide organization that has spread to over seventy-five countries. Their concept is simple: Members of the Freecycle.org communities are giving and getting reusable items for free, which serves the planet by keeping a lot of computers, housewares, toys and other still useable goods out of dumpsters.

The Freecycle Network is made up of more than 5 million members across the globe. Membership is free, and you can locate and sign up with a group near you on their website at Freecycle.org. The membership rules are posted on the website, and include a reminder that they are “a nonprofit organization and movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of landfills.”

With more than four thousand Freecycle Network groups in operation, the results of their activities are impressive. They are currently keeping over 300 hundred tons of material goods out of landfills yearly. As a point of reference, they say, 300 hundred tons, when stacked in garbage trucks, amounts to four times the height of Mt. Everest.

As is common with nonprofit groups, they welcome donations to help with expenses and to assist in the cost of the expansion of the Freecycle Network infrastructure online. Donations are tax deductible, and they would greatly appreciate your support in “changing the world one gift at a time.”

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