1 Mother 2 Another

Most of you know I’m big into the
whole environmental stewardship thing, and I know I’ve
brought this up before, but I’m telling you, you gotta check
out target="_blank">Freecycle.


It’s a national network of local groups who simply give stuff
away that they no longer need. Rather than see a perfectly good
bike end up in a landfill, someone will list it on freecycle and
the first person to respond will get it. For free. The people who
participate seem to be honest and try to only take what they need,
so the greed thing stays out of it.

There’s a flip side to it –
you can request stuff too. So this time of year I’m seeing
things like: “Wanted: anything Thomas for Christmas presents!
If you’re finished with yours, money is tight and I promise
they’ll be well-loved.” And believe it or not, people
respond and the hole gets filled. Over the past month, I’ve
seen an excellent boy’s bike given away, two washer/dryer
sets that worked, and mounds of toys as people clean out and make
way for new gifts. We recently listed one of our high chairs on it,
and the woman who came to pick it up wasn’t much older than
me. She needed it for her daughter, who’s fifteen and is
expecting a little boy in three weeks. The woman was grateful for
one less item she’d need to buy to support her baby’s
baby.


Interested? Check out their target="_blank">website. Search for your city and odds are
you’ll find a group already there. Simply sign up and start
sharing! No fees, no advertisements to read, nothing but people
being good stewards of their resources.