Once upon a time (last September, to be precise) an aging boomer couple (us) wanted space in our basement workshop area for an upright freezer.  But there was something in the way.

Banjo Man wanted to rent a truck ($$$!!!) and take them to the dump ($$$!!!), but I had a better idea.

“I’ll list them on Freecycle,” I said.

What’s Freecycle?
If Ebay is an auction and Craigslist is a garage sale, then freecycle is, well, your neighbor saying, “You want it? Take it!”

For free.

Banjo Man was skeptical, but in two days the five filing cabinets were gone, hauled away by two people who were thrilled to have them.  Same with some recessed lighting (given to us 5 years ago and never used, but too good to throw away) and an old scanner (again, too good to throw away but something I don’t use anymore).

Here’s how it works:  go to http://www.freecycle.org and sign up to join your local area‘s yahoo group so you will receive either individual emails or a group digest (daily), or you can opt to just check the latest listings yourself on the yahoo site (that’s what I do).

There are four formats for posting: OFFER, WANTED, TAKEN, PRAISE. You’ll see that when you read the listings. No money is exchanged, the people who want what you are giving away are responsible for picking up the item themselves, and you don’t have to haul perfectly good stuff to the dump (which in our town is not free).

If you don’t want the hassle of a yard sale and just want to get rid of things, this is a good way to do it. And you feel good knowing what you’ve given away is going to be used.

Win-win.

Last night I “offered” my 2004 desktop computer (missing a hard drive but with all of the disks). I’ll be happy for the extra closet space and the kid who emailed me this morning sounded really excited to be able to replace his old computer with something a little more recent.

It’s a good way to find something you need, too. Childrens’ boots? Skis? A sewing machine? Clothes? Dishes?  Try using the “Wanted” feature.

You just never know what someone wants to give away. And in Rhode Island, the state at the top of the “residents moving out in droves” list, there is “stuff” everywhere.

Just not in our basement.

file cabinets waiting to be picked up and recycled