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Good for you using freecycle. I am a moderator for our local freecycle and I tell everyone to join. I cant name all the stuff I have received and given away on freecycle.
The trick with FreeCycle is clarity. Learn your local moderator's preferred format and follow it. I don't have much I can give, but still monitor my FreeCycle daily digest emails. If someone posts a "wanted" for something I can give, I'm happy to do so. The thing I was happiest to give was the talking watch whose audio servo had failed. The watch still worked, only needed a $5 battery. The recipient seemed so grateful - and one more item was saved from the landfill.
The down side is some folks act like they really need stuff, then don't bother responding to an offer. Or, they arrange for a pickup and don't show. And maybe I'm too picky, but if you can't express yourself politely and with some semblance of clarity, I'm less likely to consider your request.
One thing to remember when you are participating in giving away things through Freecycle.org or ReUseIt or craigslist.org or any of those types of organizations. You do not have to give your item to the very first person that responds to your post. It is much more fair to wait at least 24 hours before you choose who to give your item to. Not everyone can sit at the computer all day long waiting for things to be posted.
One of my pet peeves when I have posted something to give away. When people respond with "I'll take it off your hands". To me it sounds really greedy, and I be probably ignore your response.
Freecycle is a great resource but sometimes it can be hard for new Freecycle members to adjust to all the Freecycle rules and the flood of email from the mailings lists. I've built a new free site that makes it quicker and easier for people to use their existing Freecycle groups at http://trashnothing.com
I've also created a map-based directory of all the freecycling groups in the world at http://finder.trashnothing.com It makes it really easy for people to find their local groups.
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If you have unused items in your home (and who doesn't?), a wonderful way to get rid of them is to use Freecycle. Freecycle is a form of recycling, using the Internet.