What I Gave Away On Freecycle

For two years I have been a member of my local Freecycle(type in your town or nearby city to join your local chapter) - but not actually participated until this weekend! The local Edmonton and area chapter is called Earthcycle .

The premise of this organization is that everything given and received is free. Your first post must be an offer to give away. Every message posted is moderated to ensure it meets their requirements. Please read the guidelines for posting as they are very specific as to what you need in your title and how to communicate.

This BBQ & tank was first posted four weeks ago and frankly, I was a bit discouraged. Only one response and they did not give me their telephone number and their email was down! If at first you don't succeed try again.

I was hoping to keep this item out of our landfill and hubby was putting the pressure to get it out of our garage so I tried again. This time success.

Suggestions:

When posting the item be specific about condition - if dirty or any part is not working tell people. On this particular bbq it needed a clean, automatic ignition was not working but bbq lighter works just fine and left wing was missing as was long ago removed to fit on a small balcony. This was a 10 year old BBQ and 3 year old propane tank. This unit had been used up until June when hubby got a new one for Fathers day. All of those details were included in the original post.

I had two interested parties who responded as requested with telephone numbers for ease of contact. The first one picked it up as promised. Everything went smoothly! I will definitely do it again. We passed on a usable item, kept it out of the landfill and saved the costs for disposal.

I always find it interesting to browse what people are looking for and what they are giving away. Here are some recent postings:

Offer:

Couch and matching striped chair - needs a clean

White guest book usable for party or wedding

Beet Greens

Crab apples, we have the ladder, you bring the bucket

Box of books

Working smoke detector

3 step staircase

Baby bottle warmer

6 ft landscape ties

Lovable 2 yr old female cat, not fixed (***all pet posts are carefully moderated)

Wanted:

Indoor tv antenna

Large pieces of Styrofoam for Halloween props

Gently used trumpet for child to use in school

Elmo VHS or DVD for grandchildren

Wedding planner book

Dog Training Collar or invisible fence

Dollhouse

Rocks to create outdoor rock garden

Old console stereo

Chest Freezer

So try to reuse, wear out and if you must replace an item when it still has some life either sell it through garage sale or Kijiji or give it away on Freecycle or your local charitable Thrift store. There is always someone out there that wants what you no longer have a use for.