giving and freecycle

I've been on the freecycle mailing list for my area for years. From time to time I'd look through the emails, not really see anything I wanted and that was about it. I had considered offering items, but I was a little weirded out about meeting with people.

The past few weeks have been filled with spring cleaning, so I finally got a fire under my ass and decided I had to try freecycle out. I decided to offer a stack of magazines. I quickly received an email from someone interested in the magazines. We set up a meeting time in front of a close by grocery store and everything went as smoothly as possible. All of my worries, while valid in some ways since I am meeting someone off the internet, weren't too big issues when sitting in front of a grocery store with a lot of foot traffic. I also was in the process of trying to get rid of some old pots and pans when someone on my list asked for pots and pans! Awesome! Today I finally was able to set up a time to pass those on as well. How awesome to be able to set up these situations with just a few emails and a little of your time. It's not as if I would be able to deduct much on my taxes by donating these items to a charity and it can be difficult to get items to those locations. Additionally there is a bit of satisifcation knowing that someone that needs or wants these items is directly getting them, which lets me get directly involved with the transfer. I think I realized that is the aspect of volunteering on a project that I always enjoyed. That's why donating money is never quite the same to me.

Anyway, I would highly recommend looking for your local freecycle group and looking at it or just keep it in mind when you are looking to get rid of something. Even though your tv might be old and useless to you, someone else might not have a tv at all or prefer something smaller. Some people drop their magazines off at libraries or doctors offices, but this is another great way to get rid of something that would other be recycled. Reuse before recycling!