Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Freecycling online...
Another NYT article, this time talking about the practice of giving away or looking for old free stuff online. The main focus is a site called Freecycle. It is split into regions (with a volunteer moderating each one), linking to a Yahoo Group where you can post about items you want or have. They also mention that Craigslist has a "free stuff" section (such as this boston one).
The trouble with both is lack of posts really near to me (much more in eastern Mass than western), but it seems like the sort of thing that'll be less of an issue over time. Especially with Freecycle, it seems easy to get something going locally if you have a bit of time to spare. But I do hope it can get away from Yahoo eventually. It works, but is a bit cumbersome...
As for the idea itself? I really like it. Ebay is certainly a great way of getting rid of stuff that you think someone would pay for, but what about the stuff that is less useful, where dealing with Ebay and/or shipping is just too much effort with likely no buyers anyway? As mentioned in the article, the main aim is to keep things out of landfills. Before throwing something out, just put it online or a couple of weeks and see if someone bites..
When you stop and think, it really is amazing just how much stuff everyone has and how wasteful it all becomes. We tend to think either in terms of throwing away or selling. You never know who might need something that you don't. I grew up fairly poor, so I can certainly sympathise with a setup like this...
The trouble with both is lack of posts really near to me (much more in eastern Mass than western), but it seems like the sort of thing that'll be less of an issue over time. Especially with Freecycle, it seems easy to get something going locally if you have a bit of time to spare. But I do hope it can get away from Yahoo eventually. It works, but is a bit cumbersome...
As for the idea itself? I really like it. Ebay is certainly a great way of getting rid of stuff that you think someone would pay for, but what about the stuff that is less useful, where dealing with Ebay and/or shipping is just too much effort with likely no buyers anyway? As mentioned in the article, the main aim is to keep things out of landfills. Before throwing something out, just put it online or a couple of weeks and see if someone bites..
When you stop and think, it really is amazing just how much stuff everyone has and how wasteful it all becomes. We tend to think either in terms of throwing away or selling. You never know who might need something that you don't. I grew up fairly poor, so I can certainly sympathise with a setup like this...
