Posted by Snow in Freecycle is a new way to source needs without buying unsustainable furniture or goods, or to discard valuable pieces of furniture, goods, or objects so that they may have a “second life” enhancing the lives of others.
Freecycle works by area. Shopping locally means limited to selection of locally made furniture, local agricultural crops, and stores. But Freecycle allows someone with a little flexibility to get what they need without filling the trash dumps.
1. Be Honest
Some Freecycle deals and listings are really just about money. Revise your consumer need to make money when getting rid of the old shelves or broke chairs. Given time, the artisan or craftsman can make something amazing out fo these materials. Be honest about the condition of your object. The idea is to post and supply many pictures from different angles.
2. Highlight Relative values
A wood carver is going to know exactly what he’d have to pay to get wood of x quality or y color. Bamboo flooring rolled up or linoleum from a bathroom remodel might be desperately needed by someone who just does;t have funds ready for new stuff.
Yes, the material you are saving is valuable. But does the value vary or drop every year it sits unused? Call it a day on projects that will never happen and let it go. Unless there is a basement, storage space or attic, see what keepsakes can afford to go.
Installed flooring or new furniture can be a very inexpensive way to expand the kitchen transformed into a nook or dining room. Unused siding may just never get used. And when will that paint in the custom shade or blue or pink every be opened in your lifetime again? Compare project goals from ten years ago versus the need for breathing room today.
3. Look for Rough Diamonds
Freecycle is a great place to look for that one thing that can springboard an entire project. Often in landscaping or room design, wish lists for ideal projects are capped by limited investment or capital outlay to get it started. Freecycle shrinks this cycle. There will be a gasp and the visitor will exclaim “where did you get this”? Keep looking for that magical thing that will get your grooving on your next project.
4. Pass it On
Maybe you don’t want to get rid of grandma’s piano or let the old book collection from Aunt Sofia go. But if you let stuff molder it will eventually get so ruined it has to be thrown into a landfill. Freecycle stuff gets used and lived in. If you think about it that way, getting rid of “stoppers” in your current environment is a winning idea.
5. Be Practical
How may of one type of appliance do you really need? Pass on stuff that gets less than one day of use a year. Discard old clothes and books before they mold over or start collecting sects. By using Freecycle, that old VCR, digital player, or computer keyboard.
RSS Feed