Too much stuff? Make free with it

WHO says you can't get something for nothing? A York green organisation is set to disprove the old maxim by setting up the city's first online swapshop.

Freecycle groups - online communities through which people give away things they have no more use for - are becoming all the rage. The one set up in Leeds last autumn is thriving, with more than 250 members and almost 200 messages exchanged this month.

The idea is that you post up on the freecycle (free recycling) website any second-hand items you no longer want but think could be useful to someone else. Anyone who wants these items can contact you and arrange to pick them up.

They get something for free and while you won't make a penny, you are saved the time, trouble and expense of having to dispose of unwanted goods.

It may be an old bike; a surplus vacuum cleaner you don't know how to get rid of; a child's pram; or an old computer terminal or keyboard. Anything that is gathering dust in the corner of a room or your attic, which if you just chuck it out would only end up in a landfill site.

It's the perfect Green concept, says York University PhD student Ben Weaver, who is working with the Friends of St Nicholas Fields to set up a freecycle community in York.

"It's environmentally friendly, because it will reduce waste," Ben said. "People can re-use stuff they were just going to chuck out, which would have ended up in landfill. It will benefit people who get stuff for free, and it will save you the cost of getting rid of it. And it also helps build better communities."

The scheme can be used by individuals and businesses.

Amanda Owen, a web developer with York-based hi-tech firm Mitrefinch, recently moved from Leeds, where she was a member of the Leeds Freecycle community.

"It was fantastic," she said. "The place I used to work for in Leeds bought a lot of new office furniture, and had to get rid of the old stuff.

"It wasn't new, but it was still perfectly usable. They put it on the site, and somebody came and picked it up. It stopped the firm I worked for having to pay the cost of disposing of it, and it really helped this new business."

York people who want to join a freecycle community can sign up to the one in Leeds. But it is important to have a local group, Ben said, so you don't have to drive too far to pick up what you are interested in. "If it is something such as plant pots, you don't want to travel too far," he said. "With a local group you can just wander around to pick it up."

The York initiative is still at the planning stage, but Ben said it should be up and running in the 'not-too-distant' future.

John Brierley, project co-ordinator of the Friends of St Nicholas Fields, said it was the obvious next step for recycling in York.

"It is a great way for people to find things for free that they need and that other people are trying to get rid of. And it's really green, because it stops things being buried in the ground that could be really useful," he said.

To find out more about the York initiative, contact the Friends of St Nicholas Fields at info@stnicksfields.org.uk or on 01904 411821. You can find out more about other freecycle communities at www.freecycle.org

The freecyclers

Tom Mills, 21, third year student at University of Leeds

Strapped for cash, Tom was intrigued when he heard about the concept of 'Free Ebay'. After a laboured search on the internet he stumbled across the freecycle groups hosted by Yahoo!

"I joined the Leeds group straight away and began posting for things that I needed," said Tom, who has just finished a degree in cultural and media studies. "Quite quickly I got some desk lamps and video games. It was great."

Tom joined freecycleleeds, which began last October and now has 255 members, and quickly found his inbox clogging up with offers of free goods.

Tom said: "The main rule is that it has got to be free, but people can post things they want to get rid of or ask for things they want."

Among the more unusual items Tom has spotted include a woman asking for someone to do a 10km run with her, a single rail ticket to London and a collection of cacti.

"I've seen people ask for books, laptops, video cameras - anything is possible," says Tom.

Although he believes there is an unwritten understanding that members should give as well as take, there is no compulsion to donate to the exchange scheme.

Tom says sometimes it makes financial sense for people to give away their unwanted goods rather than use a service such as Ebay.

"You have to pay a listing fee for Ebay and then sort out the postage, so I would rather just give something away and operate on that mutual understanding. I think people have become fed up with 'e-commerce' and all the things on the internet you can buy.

"I also get the impression from some people that the things they are offering would go in the tip unless somebody wants it. But the best reason I love it is because it is philanthropic. I haven't got lots of money and if someone wants to give me something for free than I'll appreciate it."

Pete Tatham, 23, chef and music student from Leeds

Freecycle etiquette suggests new members join up by offering something with their first posting.

"I put up a bedside lamp," says Pete, who has been all over the Leeds area picking and dropping off goods in recent months.

His best freebie has been a mountain bike and a bike rack for his car. "Now I can take my bike with me when I go on holiday," he says.

The most unusual 'gift' was a giant cactus which a woman wanted to off-load because a feng shui expert said it would bring her bad karma.

Pete warns that freecycling can be a disappointing when you see something you fancy, but don't get it because it has been oversubscribed and gone to someone else.

"There was a beer-making kit and someone offering to teach you how to make your own brews," says Pete. "I missed out on that one. The good stuff tends to go quite quickly."

Pete says freecycling is a welcome antidote to our materialistic culture.

"It's a reaction to the world we live in where people are obsessed with spending money to make them feel better.

"When you give something away you feel great and when you get something for free you feel even better.

"It's a breath of fresh air. It's great to see the internet doing something really positive."

Freecycling facts

- The first freecycle group was set up in May 2003 by Deron Beal in Tuscon, Arizona, USA with the aim of giving away goods for free and easing the burden on landfills. Two years on, the concept has spread to 50 countries where 2,740 local groups have almost 1.3 million members.

- It is estimated that globally the freecycle movement is keeping around 50 tons a day out of landfill sites.

- The golden rule of freecycle is that everything posted on the site must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages. So no alcohol, tobacco, firearms or drugs, but more or less anything else.

- Members communicate in three clear categories: 'Offer', where they have something to give away; 'Wanted' in which they are looking for a specific item and 'Taken' letting fellow members know their original offer has gone. In the spirit of giving, it is suggested that new members make their first posting an 'Offer'.

- Need not greed. Members are asked not to ask for extravagant items such as diamond rings.

- Most groups operate a 'two strikes and you're out' policy, and anyone who breaks the rules twice will have their membership cancelled.

Updated: 11:12 Thursday, May 26, 2005