Imagine connecting with someone who actually wants to take your old floral-print sofa, your collection of coffee cans or the leftover dirt from an excavation project.

Cooke County resident Nina Campbell, of The Freecycle Network, said people have picked up these items and more working through the national recycling initiative.

Members say Freecycling.org is alive and well in this community, and they hope the local recycling network can help erase some of the footprints consumers leave on the earth.

The organization has local members. Campbell said she’s hoping to see those numbers grow.

“Right now, we have about 120 members, and I’ve love to double that,” she said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t do much recycling here,” she said. She learned about the network through a friend in the East.

She said she’s always been interested in conserving natural resources and protecting the environment.

“As of July 16, The Freecycle Network is made up of 4,544 groups with 5,484,000 members across the globe.

In 2007, Freecycle members say they kept over 400 tons a day out of the landfills worldwide. Stacked in garbage trucks, one on top of the other, this is over four times the height of Mount Everest.

“Is that awesome or what?,” said Campbell.

The mission of The Freecycle Network is to build a worldwide gifting movement to reduce waste, save precious resources and ease the burden on landfills while enabling the group’s members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

“The Freecycle Network(TFN) is a grassroots and nonprofit community gifting movement made up of thousands of entirely local and individual city groups that promote reuse through local gifting among their members. Members have the opportunity to give and get items for free, in an effort to keep unnecessary waste out of landfills. Numerous local nonprofit organizations in each community are also members of local groups,” she said.

Each group is run by a local moderator and members say the service is free.

Campbell said a local group was created and later folded.

She recently helped renew interest in the effort.

“We started the group again,” she said.

Members can post items they’d like to give away or request items they’d like to have.

“You can go online and pull up your state and find out where they have a group. Then, if someone wants a baby bed, for example, they post a notice asking if there’s someone with a baby bed. There’s no sob story required. No explanation,” she said.

Members list their geographical location and search for items that meet their requirements.

The purpose of the network is to keep usable items out of landfills. But there are some rules.

All posts must be age-appropriate.

Illegal items are prohibited.

Items must be in usable condition.

Freecycle can enrich lives, Campbell said.

“Someone who wants to redecorate their home can list their old furniture, and someone who needs furniture can get the items,” she said.

The Freecycle Network began in May 2003 in Tucson, Ariz. after Tucson resident Deron Beal sent an e-mail to 30 or 40 friends and a group of non-profit organizations.

Like many others, Beal was concerned that consumer refuse from large cities was filling up landfills and taking over large parts of Arizona’s landscape.

“At the time Deron founded The Freecycle Network, he worked with a small nonprofit organization, RISE, which provides recycling services to downtown businesses and transitional employment to Tucsonans in need. As the team recycled, rather than watching perfectly good items being thrown away, they found themselves calling or driving around to see if various local non-profits could use them. Thinking there had to be an easier way, Beal set up that first Freecycle e-mail group in a way that permitted everyone in Tucson to give and to get. Freecycle was off and running,” the organization’s Web site states.

A search of the Web reveals close to 700,000 sites advocating some form of household recycling.

Clothing, toys, furniture and appliances are among the top items recycled.

Recyclers point out that reusing items is also economical.

Campbell said the goods exchanged include items such as computer equipment, kitchen appliances, lawn mowers, books, TVs and other assorted electronics, empty coffee cans, VHS movies, cassette tapes, baby clothes and supplies, lamps, furniture, leftover building supplies, furniture and other household goods.

“Some of the more interesting items we've seen include egg cartons; used instruments, leftover paint; coffee grounds and eggshells for composting; sets left over from a past play; and fill dirt. We've had a few non-running cars, mobile homes and things go through, but this is more rare than the other items mentioned.

And the guy who picked up the fill dirt?

“He was thrilled to get it,” Campbell said.

Ways to recycle:

• Hold a yard sale.

• Donate usable items to non-profit organizations. Several local churches and non-profit groups take items such as furniture, clothing, baby items and other household items.

• Make compost of fallen leaves, grass trimmings, fruit or vegetable peels.

• Buy recycled products.

• Purchase good with less packaging — buy larger-sized refills of household products such as cleaners and laundry detergents.

• Contact city waste management authorities to find out how to dispose of hazardous items such as old paint, solvents and used motor oil. Many communities have periodic collection days when residents can bring in these items and dispose of them.

To find out how to enroll in Freecycle visit:



http://www.freecycle.org/about/pressroom

http://www.freecycle.org/about/missionstatement

http://www.freecycle.org/video.html

http://www.freecycle.org/about/