Many of us are fortunate enough to live in nations and neighborhoods that are blessed with an embarrassment of riches.  Even the poorest among us are wealthier than the people in most of the countries in the world.  In a world where many people have never seen indoor plumbing, have never ridden in a car, or do not own a refrigerator, many of our homes boast multiple bathrooms, two- and three-car garages, and refrigerators that are overflowing.  On trash day, we regularly observe families that put almost-new mattresses, appliances and furniture out by the curb for the garbage people to haul away.  What a waste, when there are probably families in the same area that would welcome such treasures into their homes. 

Christmas, with its spirit of giving, prompts us to give even more.  Often we receive things we don’t need.  Either we use the new stuff and leave our older belongings hidden in a closet, or we don’t even bother to unpack the new treasures and leave them unused and unloved. 

Surely there is a better thing to do with our excess than to leave it in a garage.  The British have their Boxing Day — the day after Christmas, when they box up all the old to be given to charity so that room can be made for the new.  Unfortunately, Boxing Day has never caught on in the United States. 

It took the Internet and good old American ingenuity to come up with a way for us to put our excess goods in the hands of people who need those items more than we do.  In 2003, Deron Beale of Tucson, Arizona, sent out an email announcing the formation of the Freecycle Network — an email network of people who want to give their excess to the people who needed it.  He started www.freecycle.org by sending emails to 40 friends and associates.  Today, Freecycle can be found in more than 50 countries.  There are thousands of local Freecycle groups, and more than a million members are Freecycling every day.  Freecycling is probably going on in your neighborhood.

How it Works

Participating in Freecycle is easy.  Go to the website (www.freecycle.org), sign up for your country or state and neighborhood, and wait for emails to appear in your email box as things become available that you may need, or that you may only want.  There may be multiple active groups in your area, and you can sign up for all of those that are within driving distance.  The items offered on Freecycle may be as life-changing as an automobile, but they’re just as likely to be in the form of whimsical things that someone has decided he really can live without.  If you’re looking for those little heart-shaped plastic thingies that protect the tags on Beanie Babies, you can find them on Freecycle just as readily as you can find the car seat that could save your child’s life in the event of an accident.

But you don’t need to take anything to participate in Freecycle.  Freecyclers want anything you’re willing to get rid of — and that means anything.  If you have a little bit of paint or a partial piece of sheetrock left over from a home improvement project, some Freecycler will take it off your hands.  If you got a box of candy for Christmas but would rather stick to your New Year’s diet, somebody will be more than happy to put the calories on their own hips.

If there is something you need but can’t afford to buy for yourself, you can even send a WANTED message instead of waiting for someone to offer something out of their own excess.  Recently we saw a message from a family who couldn’t afford a Christmas tree — but who quickly got one donated through the Freecycle community.

Some things that are being given away are very popular, so it helps if you’re online quite often so you can be the first person to respond to a particularly interesting offer.  All you need to do is arrange for a time to pick up whatever it you want to pick up — or for someone else to come get whatever you’re trying to get rid of.  People are expected to bring their own trucks and strong backs for large items.  It’s enough for a person to donate an item, without expecting that person to risk a strained back by helping you haul it away.

(And we should warn you that if you participate in a particularly active region, you should expect to get a lot of emails!  Kathy was recently away from the computer for a week and had her email box filled after only a few days.  You may want to discontinue your Freecycle membership when you leave town and turn it back on when you return.)

Another way to get a popular item is to tell the giver what you plan to do with it.  When we saw a brand new Honey-Baked Ham^® being given away in our local Freecycle on Christmas Eve, we had no need for the ham but knew of several families in our ward who would really have been helped by the extra food at Christmastime.  All it took was a letter telling what we would do with the ham, and the ham was ours to give to one of those families.  (It turned out the person giving the ham was the same person who had turned to Freecycle for a Christmas tree, and who wanted to return the blessing to someone else in need.)

There aren’t many rules with Freecycle, but one rule is paramount.  No matter what you’re giving away, you have to do exactly that.  There can be no charge associated with Freecycle.  It doesn’t cost any money to advertise that you have items to give away, and you can’t charge people to take things off your hands. 

Anything Goes

Having said that, it is absolutely amazing to see the things people give away.  In about four months of Freecycle membership, we have seen untold numbers of complete beds given away — including a brand new queen-sized Tempur-pedic bed we’re still kicking ourselves for not snapping up.  Appliances are often given — and if you live in an area where there is a lot of building going on, it is quite common to see brand new appliances or other home fixtures given away as people move into a new home and replace unused items with brands they prefer.

In the past month, we’ve seen a half dozen pianos and organs given away in our neighborhood, as people upgrade what they have or make room for different furniture.  Hamsters or pet bunnies have also been offered.

But people who give through Freecycle don’t just think of recycling major appliances and automobiles and family members.  Toward the end of summer, one Freecycler pleaded for someone to come harvest her garden “because I’m sick of zucchini.”  Recently someone offered an unopened container of Philadelphia Cream Cheese because, “I decided I wasn’t in the mood to make the dip.” 

Nothing is too small or too large to recycle.  Christmas Eve’s email included a notice that said TAKEN:  Guitar pick.  Guitar picks were selling for $6 for a set of 24 on eBay, which means that someone got in the car and drove somewhere on Christmas Eve to pick up a piece of plastic that would have cost 25 cents in the store — spending more than twenty-five cents in gas to pick up that guitar pick for free.  That’s the thing about Freecycle.  Whatever you’ve got, somebody wants it enough to come to you to take it off your hands.

Baby items are very popular.  Clothes, disposable diapers, high-end strollers, baby furniture, and virtually anything a baby would need or grow out of is there for the asking on Freecycle.  The same is true of clothing.  People are more than happy to give away clothes their children have grown out of — or, when the diet fails, clothes they have grown too big to fit.

Seasonal decorations are big.  There are a lot of people who would rather purchase their Halloween decorations every year than store them during the off-season.  The only downside is that, as you would expect, you’re not going to find holiday stuff until after that particular holiday is over.

This year we wrapped our Christmas presents courtesy of Freecycle Christmas wrap.  Someone who was leaving the area didn’t want to put her big Rubbermaid container of Christmas wrap and ribbon in the moving van, and we were the lucky recipients.

Our biggest coup so far was a shipment of twelve office chairs — the kind that go around a conference table.  They were practically new, but the CEO of the company that gave them away decided he preferred brown to grey.  One by one, we’ve been giving them to people in the ward who need office chairs more than we do.

Not everything you get off Freecycle is a winner.  Kathy once misread an ad, thinking that what was being offered was a case of twelve boxes of lasagna noodles.  She thought that might come in handy for food storage.  It was more than a little embarrassing to show up at the donor’s house and learn that she was giving away one box of twelve lasagna noodles.  And it was even more embarrassing to get to church on Sunday and learn that fellow Freecyclers from the ward were speculating about what kind of lamebrain was so cheap that she had driven into the next town to pick up a measly box of pasta. 

How Church Members Use Freecycling

Although Freecycling can be a great blessing for your family, it can also be a terrific resource to help a ward stretch its budget resources.  Heidi Awbrey in Lafayette, Louisiana, is a member of the Acadiana Freecycle group — and is also a ward activities chairman.  She wrote to the ward activities internet group (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LDS-activities/) about her ideas for recycling things from ward to ward — or even from church to church — after groups have finished with them:

Heidi’s involvement with recycling began long before the actual Freecycle program began.  She explained:

Heidi doesn’t just look for things for herself, however. From the beginning, she looked out for others who could use what her “junking” route — or, later, with Freecycle — could do to help others.  She wrote:

She added that Freecycled goods can even be used to augment the family’s income:

When Freecycling Doesn’t Work

When we first discovered Freecycling, Kathy immediately developed a missionary zeal for the concept.  She told the Latter-day Saints at www.nauvoo.com all about it, only to hear that Freecycling doesn’t work in all places.  In some areas, she was told, there are so many people posting “wanted” ads that nobody bothers to give anything away.

This problem is an easy one to solve.  Each Freecycle neighborhood organization is organized by a particular host.  This host has the power to make rules that will help keep the program going in that particular neighborhood.  If your neighborhood Freecycling organization is dominated by people who are more interested in taking than in giving, it would be easy for the neighborhood organizer to:

• Restrict “wanted ads” to one request for every x-number of items donated by the person making the request;
• Restrict “wanted ads” to one wanted ad per member for every x-number of months;
• Turn off the “wanted ads” feature altogether until the problem is under control.

Freecycle is an international concept, but it’s the local organizations that make it work.  If your local group has a bottleneck, write to the organizer with suggestions — or offer to take over the local group and implement the suggestions yourself.  It’s one way you can help your community without even leaving the comfort of home.

We should also note that Freecycle is not meant to replace the more traditional charities like Deseret Industries and Goodwill.  We still keep a Goodwill box in our basement and put it out on the porch when they come around for donations.  But if you have just an item or two that needs a new home, consider giving Freecycle a try.  Not only will the items be put to use faster, but it will help bring the spirit of charity into your life.