The Joy of Freecycle

If you've never heard of Freecycle before, then I encourage you to check it out: FreeCycle

The original purpose of Freecycle was to prevent things from filling up landfills. Someone came up with the idea that if you have something that you can't REcycle, then you can FREEcycle it. Someone's trash is another person's treasure, right?

I've been a member of Freecycle in the various different cities I have lived in. Its a great way to get rid of stuff that you know you can't sell, but you also don't want to throw away, and occasionally you come across a good find for yourself. You can also post "wanted" ads. Its often hard to receive items from Freecycle if its an active group in your city. Each different city has different rules, so it will vary. For example, in Jacksonville, FL you were not allowed to post "curb alerts" (i.e. free stuff at the end of my driveway), but here in Whidbey curb alerts are quite common, probably due to the fact that its a military town and people move fairly quickly.

I've gotten rid of several things on Freecycle in the past. You would be surprised at the kind of things people will take from you! Some of the stuff I've gotten rid of has been good stuff (i.e. clothes that I just don't wear anymore, an end table that didn't fit into our moving truck) and other things have been broken, yet people still take them. I had a TV that was completely dead, yet I had several people inquire about it and 1 person picked it up fairly quickly. I guess he liked fixing broken TVs. Other people have gotten rid of some crazy random things and there always seems to be someone out there who wants it.

I check the local group here frequently to see if I can find anything useful and today I hit the jackpot! My experience today is what inspired this post and it honestly makes me want to become a more giving person. Tomorrow I may go through my own stuff to Freecycle.

Today someone was giving away an almost full container of kitty litter. With 9 cats in the house, we go through litter like you wouldn't believe. Same with food. Any time someone posts something for cats on there I attempt to be the first to respond. I've gotten a scratching post and some toys this way in the past. Anyway, I contacted this lady about the litter and she told me to come pick it up. When I got to her house she gave me a huge 35 pound container of litter which is like a Godsend in this household. Then she proceded to dig through her garage and found a jungle gym type thing. She told me her cats were all over the age of 15 and they don't really play anymore so if I wanted this, I could have it. Of course I said yes. I left her house and went home pretty content with my findings.

Then, throughout the evening, I have received several emails from this lady. Apparently, she continued to clean out her garage and she has now offered me a tunnel thing thats brand new, a bag full of toys complete with this electronic one thats actually pretty expensive, and a litter mate (diaper genie for cats). The last email I got told me that if I can be patient she is sure she'll dig more stuff out for me.

I'm actually a little overwhelmed. Mr. V and I struggle sometimes with all of these cats because the cost of their care gets pretty high. Anytime anyone offers us anything for the cats we gladly take it and we are very thankful for it. I was beyond thrilled today that I got an entire container of litter for free, and now I'm just amazed at the amount of stuff she's pulling out for me.

I realize this may not be exciting to some people, but I am ecstatic! This lady is going to give me what will amount to more than $100 worth of items (maybe more, but thats what I calculated in my head based on what she already told me she has). She doesn't even know me. I'm just some random person who contacted her because I wanted her free kitty litter. I guess sometimes I am surprised at the generosity of some people. I wish that wasn't so surprising, but it is. Today, I'm very thankful for a stranger who is going to save me $100 in cat products (most of this stuff she is giving me is almost brand new too). I almost feel guilty taking the stuff, but I guess she is eager to get rid of it.

I guess the point to this post is that I'm shocked that there are still some nice, kind random strangers out there and I was lucky enough to find one today. It really has inspired me, and tomorrow I really am going to dig through my own stuff. Maybe I can help someone out too, or at least make them happy with something that I don't want or need anymore.