Freecycling – Getting Something for Nothing December 5, 2009

Okay, I’ve known the concept for a long time now, but someone has finally put a name to it – Freecycling. Basically it means that you hit up dumps and trading centers to get what most people would have thrown away for free. It’s the basic “one person’s trash is another’s treasure” concept, and it can save you a lot of money.

One of the things you could do with this is building. There’s a show on one of my local TV stations called Junk Raiders. Sadly, I couldn’t find any videos of it on YouTube, but the idea is that a big shot has hired a team of freecyclers, designers, and architects to renovate a city loft for him. They’ve gotten all sorts of stuff from thrift shops, trade centers, construction sites, dumps, etc. Including lumber, a bath tub, and even a 27″ flat screen TV! (Apparently the previous owners couldn’t find the on switch ;)). They made a lighting fixture out of a car hood and a chair out of a shopping cart. Pretty cool if you ask me.

And here are a couple of resources:
– Freecycle.org – Find a freecycling group near you.
– Freecycle.net – A great resource including FAQs and guidelines. (Did you know there are apparently guidelines of etiquette for doing this stuff?)