Check
out this green concept that has spread its wings all across the world and has also
landed in Greece, as we feel it is most interesting in these times of economic
hardship: Freecycle.
A social network that connects donors of free objects and
willing recipients living in the same area, a virtual market that witnesses
supply and demand for free items, a community of volunteers that help
themselves, but also help us all by reducing excessive consumption worldwide.
How does
it work?
You send
a request to join the group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AthensGreeceFreecycle.
You have
now access to emails sent by other members, either donating or looking for
various objects. You can either stalk the group messages and jump in if you
find something that interests you or you can already post your own offer/wanted
message.
Almost everything
can be brought into attention, it just needs to be advertised for free and find itself in a decent condition.
Not cool to
post a message where you donate “gently used” clothes and let the poor
recipient cross the city only to find a pair of trousers with a big (even small..) hole in
the anal area and your favorite t-shirt from 20 years ago.
This is not the way to get rid of those things. Say RIP and let them go.
Items on
offer are picked up by recipients from the donor’s area or from a meeting place on which they mutually agree. If you need a sofa and you found one, you will need to find also a way to take it home.
Here is
a selection of items on offer this week: a Playstation remote control, 3 SD RAM
64B memories and a 21 inch old TV in Ampelokipoi, 3 Harry Potter DVDs in
Faliro, two blue armchairs with yellow flowers in the center (oh, who wouldn’t want
that, wonder what colors they will choose next), an Internet Zyxel router in
Glyfada, a Motorola mobile phone in Nerantziotissa and a blue baby bath tub in Piraeus.
Wanted items are however far more glamorous and fancy: Virginia is looking for a functional laptop "for simple use" (as I see it, she is being modest, she doesn't want to play latest video games on it), Rania would like an exercise bike, "not older than 6 years", anonymous writer needs a piano as soon as possible, but the queen of recent ads is Lizzy, who would want an iPhone 3 or 4, if possible. Just in case someone has an iPhone in good condition and wants to get rid of it.
Messages are moderated and members are not allowed to promote third party trademarks on Freecycle.
In other words, just check it out, whether you are an already active volunteer interested in reducing the landfills or whether you would like a sofa for free. I have a friend who furnished his 2 bedroom apartment thanks to Freecycle, as he was renting it and did not want to invest in it. He is very satisfied, since he saved a lot of money and it was just what he needed at that point. Might not work for everybody and certainly not for a lifetime, but in these times of crisis could be interesting.
I have a Darts game to offer and I'm looking for a garden barbecue (if possible, a wooden one, just like Jamie Oliver's), what about you???
* blue shrimp*
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