Reduce, reuse, freecycle. No, that’s not a typo, but the name of a growing trend.
Freecyclers exchange items among themselves, items they cannot use but cannot or are not willing to sell, free of charge. It’s a new way of recycling, or “a grassroots effort that that has gone worldwide,” thanks to the Internet, said Tammy Preuett, owner and moderator of www.freecycle.org’s Nashville chapter.
“Freecycling is a way to keep usable items out of the landfill,” Preuett said. “We are a throwaway society. Our great-grandparents were not. Some of the items they would have fixed, we throw them away (when they break) and get new ones.”
Freecycle’s Web site is run in conjunction with Yahoo! Groups. After joining the group, members are matched to the freecycle chapter nearest them. Those wishing to freecycle can post an item to exchange with another user. Or, the user can express interest in an item already posted. It is the responsibility of the posters to coordinate pick-up times.
“I try to incorporate my freecycling errands with another errand because of the cost of gas,” Preuett said. “It’s inconvenient at times, but we have to conserve our energies and the energies of our earth.”
User Larry Wilkinson collects old or broken computers.
“I try to fix them up and offer most back to someone on freecycle who may not be able to afford one,” Wilkinson said in an e-mail. “My wife does cross-stitch, and just this morning, we drove from Nashville to Clarksville to get some (material) that was offered on freecycle.”
The Nashville chapter is also popular among mothers with school-age children. Preuett said some of its most popular items include baby clothes and clothing that meets Metro Nashville Public School’s standard attire dress code requirements.
“They are trying to control as much of the family income as they can,” Preuett said. “I remember those days, and I would have loved it if freecycling had been around when my boys were that age.”
Her two sons are now 25 and 21 years old, and Preuett helped furnish their apartments using freecycling. She said users of the site “have welcomed it.” When she joined in 2004, there were less than 300 members of the Nashville chapter. She expects the chapter to have more than 9,000 members by the end of September 2007. There are 82 chapters in the state of Tennessee.
Items exchanged on freecycle.org have to be family-friendly, and absolutely no selling is allowed. The comments of new members of the groups are moderated for a month. The list of prohibited items includes: opened food, pornography, self-copied media, alcohol or tobacco, coupons, firearms, previously used makeup, undergarments, swords, knives, garden implements and chainsaws.
The movement has become so popular that freecycle.org plans to break with Yahoo! before the end of the year.
Lacey B. Lyons - Lacey Lyons is a reporter and editor based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her work has appeard in The Nashville Scene, The Nashville City Paper, ...
