Has anyone ever joined a Freecycle group? Mostly I would like to get rid of some good junk. I usually give stuff to charities but I don't think that some of it is used. It is not usually given to the poor but sold in shops and I think that some of it is just put into the dump.
I applied to the webgroup but have yet to see what types of offers are being posted up there.
I personally haven't joined, but I know a couple of people who have and who speak very highly if the scheme.
They have been able to both pass on things they no longer wanted to people who needed them, and also obtain things for themselves that they would not have been able to afford to buy.
I'm part of my local freecycle group.
It is pretty neat... mostly its a lot of junk, and a total impulsive persons nightmare. "Wow, a dozen boxes of old record album covers! That is so cool! I should totally get them! Oh... wait, what would I do with all those album covers? I barely have enough room for me and my already exsisting collections... crap."
But every once and a while you'll find something that's really neat that you could really use. I've gotten rid of a lot of my kids' clothes (had been used twice and couldn't sell, but someone wanted them!) I've also gotten rid of a bunch of other junk... I've also gotten some junk... got a bread maker that didn't work... oh well!
My little sister and her husband like it to get junk for their art projects. My BIL likes to take old electronic toys and make art out of it... so you really can get rid of stuff and send it to good homes.
The biggest down side I've encountered, on an aspie level, is that people usually come to your house to get the stuff. (I've discovered a way around this, leave your things on the front porch!- but occasionally some friendly person will still ring the bell...) Other than that, its pretty easy.
Good luck and happy hunting.
It'd be so cool to have something like that here.
It'd be so cool to have something like that here.
We seem to have something weird in Adelaide. I was shocked when I arrived in what was otherwise a neat, well-kept, clean and smart suburb to see piles of junk scattered along the footpaths - furniture, bicycles, computers, white goods....
It was explained to me that it wasn't the usual state of affairs, but that there were periodic council collections of stuff too large to dispose of in the garbage bin. It was called 'hard-rubbish' and, because the amount left out would be unpredictable, the council couldn't say exactly when it would get to any particular street so the rubbish would be left out for up to a week awaiting collection.
Of course, lots of it was in perfect condition and would 'disappear' 
before the council got there. That is how I got my first Australian bicycle. 
They do that in Melbourne too and people put things like sofas out on the footpaths. Occasionally, we have a bulk rubbish collection up here before cyclone season, and last time we had one, I brought home a nice little table and a couple of other small items of furniture and a mattress.