freecycle.org is a site set up to promote reuse and recycling ideas around the world.

A group for people interested in this in Sheffield has been set up, which you can find at Sheffield-Freecycle (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sheffield-Freecycle/) and you can join by sending a blank email to Sheffield-Freecycle-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

The basic idea is that if you have things you want to get rid of (e.g. a piano, a bike, anything really) you advertise it on the Sheffield FreeCycle group and someone else who is looking for just that will spot it and contact you. The rule is though that it has to be *free*. There is no trading going on here, just donations of stuff.

Equally, if you are looking for something, or if you're moving house and generally need furniture, or you're a charity or group looking for equipment, you can join the list and post a request, to see if anyone has a specific item you are looking for, or anything in general which you could use.

Everything advertised has to be given away. You can not charge for items.

This is a brilliant way to share resources with local people and groups. Join now and spread the word!

I've just found this group myself, having never noticed it mentioned on here. So while old topics should normally be left to die, I think this one is worth a bump (rather than make a new topic), for members who joined after this post had disappeared down the ranks.

so...

*BUMP*

Have recently joined Sheffield Freecycle. What an excellent idea! Have always been one for finding things cheap but this means I now can get things for free! I also never throw anything away coz I realise that somewhere somehow it's usefull to someone. I also had the misfortune of taking a load of stuff down to a charity shop to be told if wasn't worth the floor space used to sell it (was decentish stuff too). Now I realise these charity shops are there to make money but I thought they would have a system of giving things to those that need them for free or even a recycling system set up.
This is the answer!

another way of getting rid of your bike is



chuck it in the canal or river don :heyhey:

hi everybody...new to this...im looking for some ceramic pots that i can use for my snake viv. unusual the better...i hav a gothic room...and black be great....cant find any thing in the herp shops...thanx ann

another way of getting rid of your bike is



chuck it in the canal or river don :heyhey:

no room the canel is full of shopping trolleys

hi everybody...new to this...im looking for some ceramic pots that i can use for my snake viv. unusual the better...i hav a gothic room...and black be great....cant find any thing in the herp shops...thanx ann

Much better to go onto the Freecycle site or post in the wanted section of the classifieds than post here where it will be lost in the discussion.

Welcome to Sheffield Forum BTW.

Hey you guys.. did you know there is a local and very friendly group called Sheffield Freegle? We do the same thing as Freecycle but we are owned and run by local people, not by Americans.(I beleive they do still have one or two local moderators left)

http://www.ilovefreegle.org/groups/yorkshire-humber

its a great site and always worth checking before you get ripped off by buying something on here from the classifieds that a lot of the time you can either get on the freecycle or even came from there to start with and some cheeky so and so then list it on here to profit, but yes a great site and fantastic to help save landfil and cash!

Ive just offered a nice black evening dress on Freegle.. and someones put up a black push chair with all the bits! its fab!

For those of you disillusioned with freecycle we are also based in Sheffield and offer free listings of items you no longer need, but work a little differently to the email group style sites. Take a look, wont cost you anything and no harm in looking.

What an infuriating site freecycling is!
I've offered a few things on the site (usually to members already asking for them) and I've collected some things from the site, (after dozens and dozens of attempts).
I'm after a fridge for a mate and I've asked for one on freecycle.
Two days later, someone places one on offer on the site.
Why didn't they contact me (and/or anyone else) who've asked for a fridge? :loopy:

What really infuriates me is that the site doesn't urge members to look for a suitable recipient for whatever they are about to offer, before they offer it!!! :rant:

I reckon that, before offering anything, you should have to go through a couple of links pairing you up with potential recipients, thereby increasing the 'wanted' posters chances.

Am I the only one who suspects that 'travellers', car booters, and scrap merchants are responding to well meaning recyclers, purely to make money out of it? I see loads of scrap metal trucks with lots of washing machines/tumble dryers etc on the back.

They can't all be scrap can they?

Members wanting stuff have to compete with loads of other members who are bidding for stuff, NOT because they need it, but because they'd like it.
3 people who are really in need of something, are being denied the chance, because of lots of other people who want something, just because it's there.

A ludicrous situation if you ask me.

How do the people offering items know who really needs it and who doesn't? I have offered items on Freecycle and my only aim is to clear some space in my house by getting rid of something I no longer need. I don't really care if the person who picks it up uses it or sells it, the point is just to prevent the item ending up in landfill.

In addition to my above post, if a search link function was added, the mods could soon control members who ask for the same thing day after day, and would soon filter out, and hopefully bar, the groups of individuals who I think are getting an easy living from the site.
These 'traders' would have less goods to bid for, and more needy recipients would be catered for.

How do the people offering items know who really needs it and who doesn't? I have offered items on Freecycle and my only aim is to clear some space in my house by getting rid of something I no longer need. I don't really care if the person who picks it up uses it or sells it, the point is just to prevent the item ending up in landfill.

They don't, but if they searched for someone who's asked for whatever they've got to offer, then the likelihood of it going to a needy person is vastly increased, don't you think?
People aren't going to post a 'wanted message' for summat they don't want.

Would you rather a good pram went to a needy young mum, than to a scrap yard via a traveller?

OK I agree about searching for wanted ads before posting an offer.

The traveller may have young mouths to feed too, so I don't have a problem with the pram being sold.

OK I agree about searching for wanted ads before posting an offer.

The traveller may have young mouths to feed too, so I don't have a problem with the pram being sold.

The traveller may have claimed 50 prams already this year, so it makes a mockery of the Freecycle site?
At least 'car boot claimers' are up front with why they want the stuff.
The donor can then decide if they're ok with people making money out of their giveaways.
I'm not sure proper 'Freecyclers' would be happy if they knew their well meaning offering had ended up in a crusher a couple of days later.

Some good points! Will reply properly when on my pc, the idea of searching before posting is great!

Thats a good idea, I might add this to the list of future developments over at AGTY.

I'm not sure proper 'Freecyclers' would be happy if they knew their well meaning offering had ended up in a crusher a couple of days later.
The purpose of freecycling is to keep stuff out of landfill. Recycling unwanted metal is compatible with that purpose.

What an infuriating site freecycling is!
I've offered a few things on the site (usually to members already asking for them) and I've collected some things from the site, (after dozens and dozens of attempts).
I'm after a fridge for a mate and I've asked for one on freecycle.
Two days later, someone places one on offer on the site.
Why didn't they contact me (and/or anyone else) who've asked for a fridge? :loopy:

What really infuriates me is that the site doesn't urge members to look for a suitable recipient for whatever they are about to offer, before they offer it!!! :rant:

I reckon that, before offering anything, you should have to go through a couple of links pairing you up with potential recipients, thereby increasing the 'wanted' posters chances.

Am I the only one who suspects that 'travellers', car booters, and scrap merchants are responding to well meaning recyclers, purely to make money out of it? I see loads of scrap metal trucks with lots of washing machines/tumble dryers etc on the back.

They can't all be scrap can they?

Members wanting stuff have to compete with loads of other members who are bidding for stuff, NOT because they need it, but because they'd like it.
3 people who are really in need of something, are being denied the chance, because of lots of other people who want something, just because it's there.

A ludicrous situation if you ask me.

People do search for wanted messages before offering that's why there are plenty of received messages on the site ;) They can offer to who they want, stop throwing the dummy out of the pram because you didn't get offered the fridge :)

I fully agree andysm, as long as people are upfront about what they are planning to do and let the person giving make a choice based on that information who they will give to.

I have personally given away stuff on AGTY that I know is going to a carboot and I have given to scrap collectors because they were honest about who they were and I had stuff that they wanted.

Our tag includes the phrase 'too good to throw away', material that can be recycled fits this too, as you point out, this is still stuff which we are saving from landfill and ensuring is reused.

Its all just a matter of being honest and open and letting givers decide :)

I'm a moderator for Sheff Freegle. I'm going to bring this up at our next meeting. It would be great if people would search before posting.. Problem might be that yahoo group search isn't brilliant, the owners might prefer more rather than less posts.. Also people don't post 'taken or received' posts every time so it can be difficult to know if the request/offer has been satisfied!
As much as I wish all freeglers were genuine, you will always get crooks or those trying to make a fast buck, but if we catch them they get booted off the site and ip address banned! Most ARE genuine, and some wonderful gifts and support have been given :-)

Hi Happyanna,

Just thought I would mention that banning IP addresses can have unexpected results, actually blocking valid users from the site.

Many ISP's share IP addresses as a pool handing out the next free one when someone connects to their service. So the address you block could well be a genuine user the next time it is given out, likewise your band user may simply need to reconnect to the Internet to get a new IP address and be back without a worry.

Thanks Allan, our more techie guy looks after that side of things.. I believe only one or two people have been so thoroughly banned :-) as I said, it's the minority that are out for all they can get, most are genuine happy recyclers :-)

Hi Happyanna,

Just thought I would mention that banning IP addresses can have unexpected results, actually blocking valid users from the site.

Many ISP's share IP addresses as a pool handing out the next free one when someone connects to their service. So the address you block could well be a genuine user the next time it is given out, likewise your band user may simply need to reconnect to the Internet to get a new IP address and be back without a worry.

Just to advise that it isn't possible to ban an IP address on the groups anyway so irrelevant in this case :)

People do search for wanted messages before offering that's why there are plenty of received messages on the site ;) They can offer to who they want, stop throwing the dummy out of the pram because you didn't get offered the fridge :)

I've lost total faith in Freecycle and I don't think many people on there do search first.
I've posted a Wanted message for a couple of things over the last few weeks and not had one reply but seen many people Offer the items a few days later and by the time I get the chance to see it they have been taken.
People must want to receive a hundred emails and feel popular rather than help out someone who has already shown they have a need for the item!

Can I ask what the rules are? As someone was going to pick something up tonight and have just texted to say they can't get a lift so can I save until the weekend? Should I then offer this to the next person? Or should I save it for the first person? Or is it up to me?

Can I ask what the rules are? As someone was going to pick something up tonight and have just texted to say they can't get a lift so can I save until the weekend? Should I then offer this to the next person? Or should I save it for the first person? Or is it up to me?

Hi there, its totally up to you. If you can wait, Im sure the person would be grateful, but if you need it to go quickly, text them, explain, see if they can possibly collect it earlier, then if they can't, tell them you have withdrawn the offer, and contact the next person on your list!

I've lost total faith in Freecycle .........!

You could join Freegle, but whichever recycling group you join, the owners sadly cant MAKE people look through the wanted posts first.. all you can do is ask nicely (I find a chatty friendly email works well) and be patient :-):)