If your post-holiday cleanup has left you with a pile of stuff that’s still useful but maybe not the kind of thing resale shops want, consider using FreeCycle and Free ReCycling Cleveland. These sites will help you get rid of — or acquire for free — anything from a ceiling light fixture or a storm door to a guitar or a playpen.
FreeCycle is a grassroots, nonprofit, volunteer network of people who are giving away and getting stuff for free in their own towns — reusing and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership in local chapters is free. Members post notices that list and describe the items they’re giving away, or hope to acquire, without charge.
Free Recycling Cleveland is a similar organization that operates only in Northeast Ohio.
To join Freecycle:
- Go to the group’s website, www.freecycle.org, enter the city and state or the zip code for your community and click “go.”
- The search engine will return either an exact match (if any) for the zip code or a list of possible matches for a city and state.
- Click on the search result and you’ll be redirected to the local FreeCycle group’s page.
- Join your local group. Join more than one, if that works for you.
- You should receive a series of email messages from the local group — guidelines, disclaimer, “who we are, what we do,” etc. Read them.
While you wait for the emails:
- Read the FAQs (link at left-hand side of the top navigation bar).
- Read the Files (link in the box on the left side of the web page).
- Read some of the posts (click on “Messages”) to see how members use the site.
When you’re ready to start, click on “Post” to begin posting
Free ReCycling Cleveland
To join Free ReCycling Cleveland:
- Go to the Yahoo Groups FreeRecyclingCleveland website, click on Join This Group and follow the instructions.
- Once you’ve joined, learn about the group: click on the Files link in the box on the left side of the web page. Read all the files — the documents aren’t long, and they’ll explain how your membership works.
- Read some of the posts to see how members use the site.
- Begin posting: “Offer” (what you want to give away) or “Wanted” (what you need). (Note that Free ReCycling Cleveland does not allow listing of pets.)
These sites are not intended as markets for buying and selling. For that, you have eBay, Craigslist, amazon and the rest of the web.
Use FreeCycle and Free ReCycling Cleveland to help you keep it out of the landfill!
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