Freecycle rocks

[PamNY]

I've had to force myself to face reality that I'm never going to use a lot of the fabric, buttons, elastic and such that I've accumulated over the years. Those of you who grew up with depression-era parents will understand.

I put the fabric on Freecycle and it was requested by a teacher who runs a fashion design program at a high school. I was so pleased that it's going to a good and useful purpose that I was inspired to sort through the buttons and elastic as well.

And if anyone doubts the dedication of teachers, she's got a broken collarbone and is traveling quite a long way on the subway to pick this stuff up. Makes me wish I had more for her.

I've had such good luck with Freecycle -- I nearly always get nice thank-you notes.

[shootingstar]

That's great, Pam to make that type of donation. You seem to have more discipline that I.

I faced a similar dilemma when I moved from Toronto to Vancouver.
I did manage to sort and drop off some bags of brand new fabric and rolls of new lace (not sure what I was thinking at the time of purchase!) to a non-profit women's support services group in Toronto, Sistering.

I already had invited family and friends during my goodbye party before moving to comb through and select fabric that they liked. Each person walked off happily with at least 1 type of fabric length.

But I kept a large plastic storage bin of fabric I couldn't part with. Now...I still haven't used the big pieces yet. Only smaller pieces and ends for oil/acrylic painting rags for cleaning brushes.

But I am grateful I kept whatever spools of thread I had. It's been handy for alterations and garment repairs since I've kept /still use sewing machine occasionally. It is HARD now to find enough stores with spools of quality thread, thread that doesn't break.

[Tri Girl]

I LOVE freecycle!!
I'm glad the teacher will put it to good use! I am a teacher, too, so I often have tons of stuff around the house for projects- and have used Freecycle to accumulate things when needs have arisen.
Thanks for donating that. We always need far more for our classes than we have. Very cool of you!!

[Bike Chick]

I've never heard of Freecycle. Where do I get more info?

[Bike Chick]

Never mind. I just did a search and found a chapter in my county.

[Tuckervill]

I used to use Freecycle a lot. I gave away a trampoline because it had been crushed by a tree limb. The person had asked for parts--and it turns out they lived RIGHT around the corner! She took the two tramps and put them together to make one. I see her kids jumping on it about once a week.

But, I left FC right after that, because I was sick of all the requests from the "disabled" (their words) for "flat screen tvs" (also their words) and the like. I don't want to appear as if I have no compassion for others, but it was just too much for all the stories to be real. I mean, if I have something to give away, I don't care who gets it. I give it to the first responder--I don't need a sob story to sway me your way. It's not a competition!

My happiest give away was the junior drum set that I gave to a 7 year old, that my son had baked cookies to sell to buy, when he was just 7. That boy was SO happy.

Karen

[sarahspins]

But, I left FC right after that, because I was sick of all the requests from the "disabled" (their words) for "flat screen tvs" (also their words) and the like. I don't want to appear as if I have no compassion for others, but it was just too much for all the stories to be real. I mean, if I have something to give away, I don't care who gets it. I give it to the first responder--I don't need a sob story to sway me your way. It's not a competition!

I left our local FC for similar reasons.. the "requests" for things were often so unreasonable it was just stupid... clearly people were trying to take advantage of the generosity of others, but it got to the point where there were a dozen "wanted" posts for every post giving something away, and there were people who literally "stalked" the listings and nabbed everything they could - just to go sell it on Craigslist.

If I have something I don't want, and I don't want to go through the trouble of selling it, I'll either donate it to a LOCAL charity (because I know that a lot of donations are actually given to people who need them, not everything goes into to the resale store - but even still, that's fine because the money still goes back into the local community), or if I don't want to move it, list it on Craigslist.

[PamNY]

But, I left FC right after that, because I was sick of all the requests from the "disabled" (their words) for "flat screen tvs" (also their words) and the like.

Is your Freecycle group moderated? Mine is, and I haven't seen that kind of thing (though I only look at it when I have something to give away, so I obviously miss a lot).

The drum set story is great.

Pam

[Grits]

I have used Freecycle several times to get rid of stuff that was so big and bulky that I would have paid someone to come and take it off my hands! Once it was a mattress and boxsprings, perfectly good condition that had always had a hypoallergenic and waterproof mattress pad on it, but charities can't take them. Another time it was a broken electric scooter. The last time it was the third row seat in a mini van! We had sold the van to someone who wanted to use it as a cargo type van and didn't want the third seats. I listed it on freecycle, and a woman responded who had the same type of mini van with a broken third seat! A drama teacher also responded who wanted it to use as a prop in a play, but I had already promised it. I never look at postings except when I want to give something away, and then it goes to the first response unless there is something about it I don't like. The goal of freecycle is to keep stuff out of landfills. If it is easy to take down to the local Goodwill, I will usually do that, but freecycle works great if you need someone to come pick up the stuff.

[PinkBike]

i used freecycle to get rid of boxes and boxes of paperbacks. the recipients were thrilled!

but i quit because of the emails. every time anyone posted anything i got an email. they were crowding my inbox and spilling out all over my desk. my cat's playing with a string of them right now.

so i really love the concept, maybe it's improved since i last took a gander.

[Grits]

You can choose not to receive e-mail notices.

[Melalvai]

I use freecycle to get ride of stuff. I set it so I don't get a billion emails. Once in a while I look online at the messages if I'm looking for something specific, haven't found anything that way yet.

Speaking of fabric, we are moving into a house that has all tile floor throughout the house. We can wear slippers but what about the poor spoiled kitties? I want to get several area rugs. To this end I am crocheting some rag rugs!

I started with tshirts, cutting in a spiral to make one long strip. That doesn't make a very long strip though. A friend of mine brought over her old uniform shirts from back when she was a manager at McDonald's, including her maternity uniforms. To make strips from these, I cut off the collar and sleeves, and cut along the shoulders so it is one flat piece. Then I cut double wide strips almost all the way to the other side. I go around to the other side of the table, and cut the double side strips in half, almost all the way back to the first side. It's hard to explain but it ends up being one very long strip.

They are really easy and are turning out beautiful! I can watch tv while I work on them. It's really peaceful--something I desperately need because I am very stressed out about moving.

The attached picture is the round rug when I'd used up all my t-shirts. It's about twice as big now. I'm working on a rectangular rug next.