Berkeley Freecycle

Through Berkeley Freecycle I’ve acquired garden rocks, paving stones, bricks and plants. In the process I’ve given away chairs, a desk, gardening items, etc. I think it’s a great way to recycle. BTW: I also donate regularly to the local thrift stores but sometimes it’s a lot easier to have someone come by & pick up – usually done within 24 hours. Once I waited 45 days for Salvation Army to pick up a nice couch. (I won’t do that again.) What’s also nice is when I’ve expressed an interest in something, but am too late, frequently a poster will email me a note advising me it’s already gone. (Moreover, all the people I’ve met through Berkeley Freecycle, giving and receiving, are just friendly as can be. Enjoy.

The idea is great, the execution is awful.
I try to give stuff away and days pass before the message is approved. Or it simply never gets approved and I have this dumb box of stuff sitting in my living room for weeks. Or I post a wanted email and get a bunch of spam messages in response.
I have moved back to the craigslist free section.

Freecycle is a organization that lets members give away items they don’t want instead of putting them in the landfill. It’s like the free section on Craigslist but better. The Berkeley group is organized through a Yahoo group which means that you can have individual emails sent to you when items are posted, or get a daily digest of all new items for offer.
I have gotten so many awesome items though Freecycle… a sewing machine, a bike, crafts books, fabric, a mini-​grill, etc. You do have to be quick on responding because items get snapped up fast, and when offering my things, I have had people flake out on appointments we made, which is lame. I even had an offer-​er flake out on me when I drove to his place to pick up some boxes, which is lamer. And why I can’t give Freecycle 5 stars.
But check it out! Who doesn’t like free things?