Now is a great time to give it away
Where to find it: Freecycle
– www.freecycle.org
Who runs the site: Deron Beal founded the site and currently is
the executive director. The way Freecycle.org works, however, there
are many groups dedicated to different geographical areas that are
coordinated by volunteer moderators. The moderator for the San
Benito group is a guy named Mark.
Now is a great time to give it away
Where to find it: Freecycle – www.freecycle.org
Who runs the site: Deron Beal founded the site and currently is the executive director. The way Freecycle.org works, however, there are many groups dedicated to different geographical areas that are coordinated by volunteer moderators. The moderator for the San Benito group is a guy named Mark.
Who is likely to use the site: People who have stuff they want to give away for free, especially to nonprofits, rather than tossing it out in the trash.
Pros: We all have items in our lives we could do without, as my family found out when we moved to a new house last January. A year later, some boxes are still packed up in the garage. But we did give away quite a lot of items, including books, movies and small household appliances. As a reporter, I was very aware of plenty of nonprofits in the area that would benefit from our donations. Some of the items went to a local library, a domestic violence shelter and the Salvation Army.
But some items, such as older electronics, are a lot harder to get rid of. That’s where Freecycle comes in. People can join the San Benito Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SanBenitoCountyFreecycle/.
There members can browse other items that have been posted for free and they can post their own items. The goal of Freecycle is to connect those with surplus goods to worthy nonprofit groups. And there are plenty in San Benito County that are worthy.
Cons: Visitors to the site cannot view posted items unless they join the group so there is really no opportunity to check out the site in-depth without signing up. Also, as an online forum, users should be cautious about how they hand off their free items. As with other online auction or sale sites such as Craigslist or Ebay, inviting a stranger over to your house to pick up free stuff late at night probably isn’t a good idea.
