quilt1950

We once offered fire wood on freecycle. We couldn't really meet them anywhere, since we didn't have anything that could haul the firewood. They showed up in a old pick-up truck, that didn't have a working reverse. We had to push them out of our driveway!! Good thing DH was home.

june6995

Our group has specific rules, that one must give away at least 2 items before they can request items.

We all know that some people think the rules do not apply to them, but we have to be on our toes and keep ourselves safe and also be effective within the group to accomplish the purpose of keeping stuff out of the landfill.

Mostly I pack items in boxes and drop them off at one of the Thrift stores where I buy my flat sheets for quilt backing. I know they do a lot of good in our community. Things like a ladder rack for on a pick-up was easier to give away on Freecycle...and not haul to the store.

June in Cincinnati

pennyswire

I love freecycle. I make donation quilts and usually find that people are willing to donate their material. I have them leave the stuff in a bag at the curb. That way you are not entering their home. You are then able to pick it up at your convience.

sewmom

In our city, people will put stuff out on the curb, like furniture,shelves,etc. When my son was living with a couple of roommates, they picked up a chair to use. When they moved out a year or so later, my son took the chair back to the house they got it from and left it! Can you imagine the people's reaction when they got up the next morning and there was their old chair-found it's way home after all that time? Priceless!

Shemjo

Our freecycle here in St. Louis is now ReUseIt on Yahoo.

I use it a lot.

madamekelly

I just have to throw in my 2 cents. When I bought my house, I promised myself to finally get a dog. We adopted a huge dog, way before we were ready. I had no fence, no chain, not even any rope. In a panic I tried freecycle. I got a response right away. A couple Had replaced their deer fencing,(like chicken wire, but much bigger) and offered the deer fencing to me for free. We went and picked it up. I had my daughter and two friends come down, and we had a fence building party. Picture 5 people, who had no idea what they were doing, putting up a fence. We had enough to do the whole yard, and all I had to buy was poles! Truth be told, the dog could probably walk through the fence if he chose, but he knows where the food is, so he stays. Yay, Freecycle!

dmackey

I love freecycle.org!

I have cleaned out many things from my home on freecycle, and other than some no shows, it has worked very well for me. I leave items outside for pick-up.

I have also gained friends through freecycle. When I requested hard cover books in good condition for deployed troops, I met spouses and parents of deployed in my area and we all work together to get things done for our deployed. I gave away some fashion fabric I was not interested in using and met a wonderful seamstress who now gives me her scraps of cotton. I put up Wish Trees each year in two restaurants, and I get almost all the ornaments I need through freecycle. I also have found people who do wonderful things for their communities that I can help out when I find things that are useful to them, like used towels and sheets for animal shelters, etc. I even met a struggling, nice young widow with three kids, who turned out to be a neighbor, and now I email her first before posting an offer for something she or the kids could use, she got my spare bedroom set, all my excess serveware, some pots and pans, bakeware, Christmas dinnerware set, tablecloths, and her daughter learned to sew from me, so she got my Singer portable that I wasn't using anymore.

From others, I have gotten a free, working featherweight in prime condition, a full patio set with umbrella, a full set of Jordache luggage used once, a Singer 15-91 in a cabinet in great condition, lots of VHS tapes for children, a beautiful pine hutch, and a new Showtime rotisserie. lots of cotton fabric pieces, and too much more to mention.

Freecycle is a great thing, but lately, spammers have been posting, and the admins let too many people request high ticket items. One thing to do when you join your local group(s), is to sit back and observe the emails. If I see someone always posting a wanted ad, I note thier email, and ignore them if they answer any of my offer ads. Some people are there to mine the goodies to sell on CL or ebay.

Quilter2B

Freecycle is a Yahoo group. I used it too and always had no-shows; got tired of reading the "wants" with ridiculous requests.

meanmummy

www.freecycle.org - go to your country and then a location (group) near you.
I love freecycle here in Melbourne Australia. Here we can report to the moderators any no shows.
Most times a pick up can be arranged by leaving items out on the veranda. I recently picked up an almost new qs mattress (had to meed the person giving this away) we love it.
Yes no show are annoying but most people are great.
I have given away various items without ever meating the person collecting them

ljorange

I love freecycle. I've given away more stuff than I can remember and it's entertaining to look at it just to see what people want or have to give away. It's amazing what some people want!