Recycling that works in a gift economy
Freecycle enables people to give things away if they don't want them, and collect things that they do want, free
"What goes around comes around"
It also describes the workings of
Freecycle, an organisation that uses Yahoo
Groups to recycle items that would otherwise end up as landfill. It's not really
a charity, though it can work that way. It is, rather, an example of a gift
economy. Its tagline is: "Changing the world one gift at a time."
Post a message describing an item, and there's a good chance someone will offer
to collect it.
While you are giving things away, you will doubtless browse the items on offer. See something you need? Go for it.
Often you will get several people offering to take something off your hands, so you can choose whoever seems most deserving. You may prefer to give things to people who are also giving things away. Swapping isn't allowed, but you can end up with things you want while disposing of things you don't.
clipped from: www.guardian.co.uk 