Oooh ooh ooh ... the latter day barter system

Here's something I've known about for some time but only recently tried out. Wait, where's the preamble?

Usually when you know someone who is giving something away, you don't need it and vice versa. How do you make sure the working/gently used items/appliances/clothing you no longer need gets passed along to someone who can definitely use it/them, saving you a trip to the thrift store and doing your part in limiting consumption and promoting responsible material stewardship.

DRUM ROLL

freecycle.org

It's the parent site where you can find the listing for your local version and message board but basically it works like this; you join the message board and determine your notice settings. Some places get lots of postings so you may not want them all coming to your inbox, however that is up to you. You can check postings that will be headed WANTED (when you are looking for something specific), OFFER (when you have something specific you want to get rid of) and TAKEN (once the item is off the table).

I accidentally broke our larger coffee pot a few months ago and a complete full size coffee maker showed up on our city's freecycle page. You better believe I contacted them right quick. Now if 10 of you come to our place and want one cup of coffee each, WE ... ARE ... SET.

There are also other bartering and free type alternative economy sites. I know Craigslist has FREE listings and if your town, through freecycle or criagslist, doesn't have this type of site, there's nothing to setting up an online message board yourself.

Here's our local freecycle for you to have a browse.

Eat more vegetables.

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