Over this weekend, make sure you check out the Freecycle.org. This website is run by The Freecycle Network, a nonprofit organization that encourages recycling. “One person’s trash can truly be another’s treasure!” is the basic premise behind the network. This is a must-see website for all those who are trying to save money and/or for all those who are going green. It’s all about giving and taking things for free. *Free* is the keyword here. All communities that are linked through this website emphasize something to this effect:
All items posted must be 100% free; no trading, buying, or selling
That sounds nice. 
When you are on the website, click on the link “Groups in your local area” in the left sidebar and you will be ready to go. All communication between members is administered through Yahoo! Groups…expect these groups to be fiercely moderated (this is good, it keeps out a lot of spam, politics, and other junk). This also means that there might be a small delay before the moderators approve your membership and you start giving/taking.
Some communities are extremely active with thousands of listings every month, whereas some manage with barely a dozen in the same time span. If, at present, you don’t have a Freecycle group in your local area, there are instructions on the website on how to get one going.
Note that this is not just limited to the US; there are Freecycle groups located all over the world, so look it up for your country. If your country doesn’t have one, start one yourself.
Btw, on a personal note, we students have our own recycling network going on in our local area. Most dumpsters serve as hubs for this kind of activity. Hopefully, with the Freecycle Network idea catching on, the dumpsters won’t be our middlemen in future.
Image sources: freecycle.org and www.withoutatrace.biz
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Your comment about the dumpsters is so true. When I was an undergrad I lived in the same apartment complex for about 5 years. I always got excited towards the end of the semesters as so many students would rather throw away perfectly good furniture and items than move it home. I’m still using a really nice table and set of four chairs that I dug out of the dumpster one spring. It was in perfect condition, and I saw the same set in a furniture store 1-2 years later for about $300.
MidnightUT: yeah…we still have those days here, we see groups of students going around scanning every possible dumpsters after end of every semesters
We should make a list of treasures we have picked up from dumpsters, what say?
At the yuppie school I went to last year I could have furnished my apartment with all the stuff that was thrown away at the end of the semester. I wasn’t keeping my apartment over the summer though and my Corolla doesn’t hold much so I had to pass them up.
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