Reduce. Reuse. Freecycle.

You call yourself “green.” You conserve. You recycle, reduce and reuse. But do you Freecycle?

Freecycle is a grassroots, nonprofit movement to keep good, useful stuff out of landfills. Its mission is “to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.”

The idea is as simple as it is wonderful and inspiring: to connect people who have unwanted items with others who can use them. There are over 8 million members in nearly 5,000 local networks worldwide. That’s a lot of free stuff!

The beauty of Freecycle is that people are giving, and getting, free stuff in their very own communities.

For example, I’ve got a television set I don’t want or use anymore. I type up a brief description—it works, it’s 27 inches, color, but no remote—and note my pickup location. The message goes out to all the Freecyclers in my community network, one of whom is bound to have a need for my old TV set. Members who are interested reply to my post, and I choose one of them and set up a time for them to come pick the TV up.

The main requirement for things listed on Freecycle is that they must be free. Membership is also free. When you join your local network, you’ll begin receiving Freecycle posts. (This can include offers, items wanted, notes that an item is pending or taken and requests for information). You can opt to receive each message individually—which admittedly can fill up your inbox—or in a daily digest. But if you choose to receive a daily digest, you run the risk of items being pending or taken before you even know they’re being offered.

I joined my local Freecycle network a few years ago when my husband and I bought our first house. A friend mentioned that we might be able to find some useful household things on Freecycle. Over the years, I have snagged some pretty amazing free items: a bat house, an antique buffet cabinet, a wooden bench, a bike rack for my car, a gigantic screen tent for camping and parties. All of these items have lots of life left in them, and I’m putting them to good use.

On the other hand, using Freecycle I have also been able to clear space in my own house and find new homes for things I could no longer use: back issues of Better Homes & Gardens I saved to read again (but never did); a first-generation digital camera that still worked, but wasn’t worth selling on eBay; a bunch of wicker baskets; old computer parts; a broken Power Wheels Jeep a friend gave my husband to fix. (He couldn’t, and she didn’t want it back. The person who picked it up used it for parts.)

Although there is really no limit to what you can offer—or find—on Freecycle, there are some basic rules: No pornography, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, firearms or weapons of any kind.

Click here to find out more about the Norristown Freecycle group. If you're not a Norristown resident, and your community doesn’t have a Freecycle network yet, you might consider starting one here.

Good luck, and happy Freecycling!