Freecycle Helped Us Decorate Our Home for Christmas in Record Time
Freecycle, at www.freecycle.org is a national organization with members in nearly every city, large or small. Member leave ads for items they are offering or those they’d like to get. The only requirement? Everything was be free, no charge, there for the taking – or the giving.
Last Christmas, we had a red bunk bed, no longer needed for a high schooler, which became the “big” gift for a fellow Freecycle member’s son. The bed looked barely used and a family was delighted to get it, since they had been struggling to figure out how to fit that purchase in their tight Christmas budget. . We’ve also donated brand new books (read once, maintained well), clothing we received as Christmas gifts, still with tags, that never fit and couldn’t be returned (usually sent by distant relatives). Each of those things could have been given as a gift, with no sign of use or wear.
Some things still have to be pitched, of course, including outdated bills or papers and worn or thread-bare clothing.
If you have items that are still in good to excellent condition, giving them to Freecycle members offers these benefits:
1. Recycling an object instead of having it land in a trash can, dumpster or landfill. It simply feels good to know that a sweater, book or bed has a new owner who values it or that someone’s Christmas will be a little brighter because they got free items which might not be affordable otherwise.
2. Saving time and energy because we didn’t need to dismantle huge items and transport them elsewhere. If we hadn’t found a Freecycle member willing to take our bed, we’d have had to take it apart ourselves, find a truck or van to haul it away and a center to take it. Finding time during a busy Christmas season would have been hard.
3.The certainty of knowing that you are giving items directly to recipients. Leave something at a thrift store or elsewhere and you have no idea if or when it’ll be found. Leave an ad on Freecyle and you know that someone cares enough to respond and take the time to pick up the offered item.
4. The opportunity to meet other Freecycle members and learn about them. This is more personal than leaving your discards at some drop-off center. In time, you may see some familiar faces pop up again and again.
5. Looking over the Freecycle list of member “Wants” and having the thrill of seeing your potential discard listed in another member’s “Wanted” ad. . We donated our bunk bed after seeing that someone was desperately trying to find a red bunk bed for her child for Christmas. Ours was perfect. Maintained well, it still looked new, no scratches or blemishes.
So when you are trying to get ready for Christmas in record time, consider using Freecycle. Sure, it will help you declutter and get rid of unwanted clothes, furniture and other objects in record time. But you’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing that your discards could be at the top of someone else’s “most desired” gifts on a Christmas list.
