imple Vegetarian | Thrift Week 2013: The Online Edition

Happy Thrift Week, everyone! This year, I'm making plans to use each day of Thrift Week to recognition on a wonderful internet web site that I do not forget a useful device for every body looking to live a thrifty existence. And it must come as no surprise to normal readers that my first pick out is my perennial favorite,Freecycle.

I bear in mind this web website the very last in ecofrugality. For every body who is not acquainted with it, Freecycle is basically a network of small groups round the united states of the us for people to skip on their unwanted stuff to others who can use it. What makes Freecycle da bomb is that it's an ecofrugal 3-fer, due to the fact you could:

1. keep your unwanted stuff out of the landfill;
2. get stuff you need for free; and
3. save the energy and natural resources that go into the manufacture of new stuff by reusing.

I first posted about the virtues of Freecycle three years ago, noting how useful I've found it for getting rid of any kind of item you no longer need, from furniture to books to empty cardboard boxes. (More recently, I have learned that there actually are a few things that even the folks on Freecycle won't take, such as my husband's old copies of Diablo and Diablo II, which have been on offer for over two weeks now without even a nibble.) Since then, I've posted several more times about the serendipitous discoveries we've made on Freecycle, from small (window shades for our smallest bedroom) to large (a huge pile ofcement-block pavers that has been sitting in a pile in our back yard for nearly three years now. Seriously, we really do intend to turn into a patio someday—I'm hoping to get around to it this summer, in fact. We would have attempted it last summer if Brian hadn't hurt his back.)

If you're not already a Freecycler, it's easy to start. Just go to the main website athttp://www.freecycle.org/ and type in your location to find a group near you. Not all parts of the country will have one, but if you cast a wide enough net, you can probably find one for your county, if not your specific city. Not all groups are equally useful, either; in general, you'll have better luck if you live in a city or other highly populated area, because you'll have a larger pool of people around to exchange stuff with. My mom says she has not had much luck getting rid of items through the Mercer County group, while I, living just a short distance away in Middlesex County, have found it very easy to get rid of most items (with certain exceptions, as noted above). I actually belong to two groups, one for Rutgers University/New Brunswick and one for Middlesex County as a whole; if I have an item to dispose of, I typically post it first on the smaller Rutgers group, figuring that I'm more likely to get a quick pickup from someone who lives nearby. If I don't get an offer within a few days, I'll post it on the Middlesex County group as well, and if it doesn't go after several days on both groups, I'll figure it's probably safe to assume that this is just an item that no one is ever going to want.

Once you join a collection, you can determine the way you want to be notified approximately new postings of items and requests for objects. Some human beings select to get a separate electronic mail for each posting, which I keep in mind might great be sensible if you live in a sparsely populated vicinity wherein new posts do not display up extra than multiple times an afternoon. You can also gather a

Freecycle does have its frustrations, of course. Sometimes you see a listing for something you would love, only to find that it's already taken by the time you make your request; other times you offer something and can't get any takers; and most frustrating of all, you occasionally get "no-shows," who arrange to pick up an item and then never show up. (Our local group has actually started asking people to report no-shows to the moderators—presumably so that they can be educated about Freecycle etiquette and, if they still don't behave, kicked out of the group.) But on the whole, belonging to this group has been a major advantage to me in my efforts to live the ecofrugal life. I think anyone who is interested in saving money, helping the environment, or both should definitely check it out.