Two people, (in fact the only two people who have ever read my blog), asked me if I had ever heard of “Freecycle.”  When 100% of my audience is interested in something, it seems well-worth pursuing.

According to their website, The Freecycle Network was introduced on May 1, 2003 by Devon Beal through an email to 30 or 40 friends and some nonprofit organizations in Tuscon, Arizona. At the time Beal worked for a small nonprofit group that offered recycling services and provided transitional employment to those in need. Believing that there was a better way to match items being discarded with people who could use the items, an email group was formed to facilitate those transactions.

Their mission statement is: “Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”

The Freecycle Network has more than 5,000 local groups and nearly 9 million members in 85 countries. Seventy-six local groups are listed in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma City group has more than 5,500 members.

Joining one of the local groups is a very simple process. Setting a user name and password, providing an email address and agreeing to the terms and conditions are the only requirements.

On the local group pages items “wanteds” and items “offered” are listed in an easy to read format. However, other than the wanted and listed designations, the listings are not categorized.  On the Oklahoma City pages I found 187 items “offered” and 844 items “wanted”.  Pets, clothing, computer equipment and a “push lawnmower that works sometimes” were just a few of the things being offered to other members. The most interesting listings were for the things members wanted.  Many of those requests were accompanied by descriptions of difficult personal circumstances such as financial trouble, health problems or abusive relationships. There was also a request for yarn for crocheting projects for the scarves and hats that are then given to  those in need. Many requests were for clothing, household items, appliances and furniture. There were requests for coupons out of the Sunday newspaper, mason jars for a wedding and Christmas and Hanukkah decorations for a school classroom.

At the very least this is a most interesting concept.

The poll shown below is not intended as an invitation to join The Freecycle Network but rather to measure interest in the concept.