Freecycle
Got a couple of old chairs you want
to get rid of? Or perhaps some old pots and pans, books, records
or clothes? Don't throw them away, Freecycle them.
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| Michelle Jermy, creator and moderator
of the Norfolk Freecycle group. |
Michelle Jermy, from Norwich started the Norfolk branch
of global organisation Freecycle after coming across the innovative
online service. "The idea is that people offer their unwanted
goods to others completely free of charge," she explained. "All
they have to do is to come and collect them."
And the Norfolk group has simply gone from strength to strength.
When Michelle started it, she was the only member – but soon there were
more than 1,200 people registered and thousands of items have been put up for
offer. "These are all items which could well have ended up in landfill
sites if they hadn't been recycled," said Michelle. "But very often
something one person no longer needs is exactly what someone else is looking
for."
Signing up to the group is easy and is free of charge. Once a member, people
can then offer their own unwanted items and put in requests for goods being
offered by others.
Items which have changed hands via the site have included electrical goods,
computer equipment, furniture, clothes and gardening tools.
Cutlery, crockery, baby prams and Christmas lights have all also found new
homes. One member offered a life-size cardboard cut-out of Gandalph, from Lord
of the Rings, while another put up some car maintenance ramps.
Sometimes the objects seem like rubbish – broken bathroom tiles, old
drinks bottles, for example – but they have found homes with artists
or crafts people keen to make them into something new.
Michelle herself has offered lots of household and gardening objects and has
also taken numerous items, including toys for her three year-old son Jack. "One
thing I put up was my wedding dress," she said. "A woman who was
a textile artist took it away to use the material to make other things from.
Once she had finished she sent me a beautiful square she had made from the
dress."
Freecycle was started in the US back in 2003 by Deron Beal, a keen advocate
of recycling. Over the years it has grown beyond belief and many areas of the
UK now have their own sites.
The Norfolk site (which like its sister sites is non-profit making) is moderated
by volunteers, such as Michelle "All sorts of people use Freecycle – most
members are individuals but schools, charities and businesses are welcome to
sign up too," said Michelle. "Anyone who wants to see unwanted items
reused rather than thrown away should have a look. I am thrilled with the response
we have had and overjoyed that such a lot of items have been saved from going
to landfill."
Norfolk
uk.freecycle.org/groups/norfolk/
> Norfolk
groups
East
www.freecycle.org/group/UK/East/
Freecycle - how
it works...
1. Find something you were going to dump
2. Advertise on Freecycle
3. Arrange collection time
4. Exchange
5. Another happy customer
Freecycle in Norfolk
Breckland - Attleborough, Dereham, Swaffham,
Thetford, Watton
groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclebreckland/
Broadland - Acle, Aylsham, Wroxham
groups.yahoo.com/group/broadlandfreecycle/
Great Yarmouth - including Caister and Gorleston
groups.yahoo.com/group/greatyarmouthfreecycle/
North Norfolk - Cromer, Fakenham, North
Walsham, Sheringham, Wells
groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclenorthnorfolk/
Norwich
groups.yahoo.com/group/norwichukfreecycle/
South Norfolk - Diss, Long Stratton, Wymondham
groups.yahoo.com/group/southnorfolkfreecycle/
West Norfolk - Downham Market, Hunstanton,
King's Lynn
groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclewestnorfolk/
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