Five Benefits of Freecycling

Have you ever cleaned out your attic, garage, or basement and wondered what in the world you were going to do with all the stuff you no longer needed? While your items are great at gathering dust and taking up space, they were made for specific purposes. What if you could find someone who could use your unwanted items? What if someone was looking for the very thing that you needed to discard? It is just this type of situation for which freecycling was created.



Freecycling, a hybrid of free and recycling, is a way for you to get rid of unwanted items you need and find things that you need – for free. Freecycling is really a community effort, and it offers those that take part many benefits. If others in the area in which you live do not participate in freecycling, you should think about starting your own freecycling community. It is easy to do, and it offers many advantages to the freecyclers and the planet.

Five Good Reasons to Freecycle

1. Reduce waste – by recycling things such as furniture, books, equipment, tools, and the like, it keeps these items out of our landfills. Instead of discarding unwanted items and relegating them to the trash bin, you can give your unwanted items to others that have a need for them.

2. Reduce environmental impact – not only does freecycling keep unwanted items out of the landfill, but it also reduces the pollution and costs associated with manufacturing and transporting new items. Freecycling can help you reduce your carbon footprint.

3. Save time – most freecycling communities are located within close geographical proximity. This benefits both those wishing to discard items and those in need of items. Long driving distances are not required, and you do not have to wait weeks to have an item shipped. You can get what you need both quickly and efficiently.

4. Save money – one of the best aspects of freecycling is the fact that it is free! It will not cost you any money to get the items that you need and you won’t need to spend much to revamp items to make them look almost as good as new. For instance, rather than buying a new sofa, a tired, unsightly couch can be given new life with a slipcover<. Old, scratched tables can be restored with a little paint, and tablecloths do wonders as well. 5. Make social connections – because freecycling occurs within a community of people, you will have the opportunity to meets other like-minded people that have a desire to protect the environment. Freecycling is an excellent way to get to know others that live in your area, and it is the ideal way for the community to share with one another.

Get Busy, Start Freecycling

With all of the benefits that freecycling offers, why not get busy and start freecycling today? Freecycling communities can be found online at www.freecycle.org, and you may be surprised at all of the great things you will find. If you have an abundance of unwanted goods, let the freecycling community know about it so your things can be reused and kept out of landfill. The way that the concept of freecycling has taken off all over the world proves that one person’s trash really is another person’s treasure and it offers all of us a chance to help the planet.

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Thank you, Caroline Smith, for this wonderful guest post. Caroline writes for GetSlipcovers.com, a site all about sofa slipcovers and how they can be used to recycle old furniture. Caroline tries to make eco-friendly choices and enjoys finding ways to bring new life to older items that would otherwise be discarded.

Tags: freecycle, freecycle.org, getslipcovers.com, slipcovers, recycle, reduce, reuse