Freecycle -- Recycle and Reuse...What About Respect?

Unless your city or town is really pretty darn small, there is probably a Freecycle online community dedicated to it. Or even if there isn't a specific Freecycle community for your city, I would bet that there is one for the closest big city. Am I right? Of course I am! Since the Freecycle Network began back in 2003, more than 4,000 different Freecycle groups have formed throughout the country as well as in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

Freecycle was formed with the purpose of keeping useable merchandise out of landfills. A very noble idea, and one that has caught on quite well-the Freecycle groups here in the United States alone have over 3 million members! Many other countries across the globe have borrowed the idea behind this network to make their own similar groups, as well.

The way these local Freecycle groups work is simple-people join the group through Yahoo. Then they can post items that they have that they no longer need (these are usually posted as an "offer") or they can post asking for items for which they are looking (these are posted as a "want"). Chances are, either you or someone you know belongs to a Freecycle group and has either made or responded to a post.

Generally, the groups run rather smoothly. Yes, the groups do have local moderators who are required to follow the guidelines as mandated by the Freecycle Organization, but for the most part, it is a self-run operation since group members are free to put up their own postings as long as they follow the rules.

I have belonged to my local Freecycle group for a few years now, and while I do see that these groups are doing an excellent job of keeping items out of the landfills, I also see that there is a great deal of strife among some of the members. Of course, the moderators try to keep any arguments or friction away from the Freecycle group itself-people who post about problems or disagreements are commonly told that they are not supposed to post off-topic comments and they are directed to the Freecycle Café group (a secondary group that is supposed to be for people to discuss local matters, but which is actually rather sparsely attended).