Using Freecycle to Find New Homes for Your Stuff

Freecycle: Tailors Dummy. Tall, adjusts, takes up room.
Photo by Daniel Catt, found on Flickr, licensed through Creative Commons.

As a huge Freecycle fan, I notice Freecycle-related stories, and I've come across three of them recently that I wanted to share.

This first one is just a small tidbit buried in a story about the woman who won the grand prize in California Closets "Organize This!" contest, getting her a new storage system and a visit from Peter Walsh. That's all well and good, but here's what caught my eye — a few words from contest-winner Pat Murphy:

This experience forced me to not only decide what I need and don't need, but I was also able to pass along my unwanted items to someone more in need of them. For example, through the website Freecycle.org, I sent a cat tree to a family with a disabled cat.

The next one is a simple tweet from artist Lili Chin:

just got rid of a suitcase via freecycle. Felt so good it went to a very grateful punkrock teenager who said "WOW it's really nice!"

And finally, I'll just share a bit of an amazing Freecycle post included in a recent Jon Carroll column; I highly recommend you go read the whole thing:

Reader Cindy Houts sent me the following entry from the Alameda Freecycle listings:

Helen is tall and elegant. She used to contain a lovely orchid, but then it stopped blooming. It's so hard to make orchids bloom a second time, and Helen has thus found herself at loose ends, orchidless. She's pale green, slender, and tapered.

Carl is bright metallic red and squat, like a little barrel. He used to contain a red lion amaryllis, two years ago. ...

Mike ... Little Mikey is a tiny little pot covered with a green clover pattern. In fact, he used to have a real clover plant, but that was last year. ...

Related Posts:
The Things You Find on Freecycle
Short Takes: Funny Stuff Found on Freecycle
The Thoughtful Consumer Uses Freecycle
How to Reply to Offers on Freecycle
Freecycle: Your Clutter Is Someone Else's Treasure