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What if you could clean out your garage or storage shed, just by telling people what was in it and waiting for them to come pick it up?
What if there was a way to promote environmental responsibility and a sense of community without leaving your home or spending a penny?
Believe it or not, there is.
Founded in May 2003 by Deron Beal of Tucson, Ariz., The Freecycle Network has spread to more than 85 countries, where there are thousands of local groups (such as the one in La Crosse County) representing millions of members — people helping people and “changing the world one gift at a time.”
It all happens on the Web. Members post online items they need or items they have to offer. Other members respond and either provide the needed items or claim the items offered. There is no fee for membership.
There is no limit to how much you can donate or ask for. The only rules are that everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages.
In the few days prior to this writing, members have donated and received items including a television, an air conditioner, kids movies, towels, a shower curtain, exercise equipment, a printer and, yes, even a kitchen sink.
Recently Amy and Tim Gelhause of Holmen cut down an old elm tree on their property. The Gelhauses had no need for the wood, so Amy posted it on Freecycle. Jamie Fortier of Bangor responded, and last Wednesday she and her husband, Tim, hooked up with the Gelhauses to load and remove the wood while their children played with each other.
“We were very grateful to have some wood for camping, and that family was glad to see it go to someone that would use it.” said Fortier, “As we were leaving, our kids even gave hugs to each other.”
The next morning, Amy Gelhause asked the members of Freecycle for landscape rocks and pavers to fill in the area where the tree once stood. By noon, someone from Westby contacted her and supplied the rocks she was looking for.
Gelhause said she loves the environmental responsibility of Freecycle, as well as the sense of community. “Socially it’s a good thing, a win-win. Both sides benefit,” Gelhause said.
Judy Wolff of Holmen has been a Freecycle member for about a year. Wolff repairs and retools used and out-of-fashion formal dresses and then donates them to girls who can’t afford to purchase prom dresses. She does the same with wedding gowns.
Wolff heard about Freecycle from an online forum. She uses it mostly for dresses but, has found other items there as well such as the old film cabinet she uses to hold all of her dress patterns. She also has donated items including flowers, dishes, clothing and even pine cones for crafts.
Other Freecycle stories include a stay-at-home mom who received a picnic table for backyard lunches with her kids while her husband was traveling during the week, a woman who found a home for a beloved Christmas cactus that had been in her family for years, a disabled mom who received an electric guitar for her daughter when it just wasn’t in the budget — the list goes on and on.
“All of that stuff would have eventually ended up in landfills,” said Wolff, echoing the sentiments of others.
According to its Web site, The Freecycle Network is currently keeping more than 500 tons of used items out of landfills worldwide each day.
In spite of all the good it does though, Freecycle still seems relatively unknown. In fact there are more than 100,000 people in La Crosse County and fewer than 2,200 members of La Crosse County Freecycle. The good that is currently being done pales in comparison to the good that could be done if more people would just take a moment to think before sending stuff to a landfill or incinerator.
“Before you throw something in the trash, think — could someone re-use it for something?” Amy Gelhause said.
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