As many people join Freecycle after hearing their friends and relatives enthusing about
Freecycle, this might help you when telling them what it's all about.
First, what Freecycle is NOT about:
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Freecycle is NOT about giving only to the poor.
It is NOT about getting as much free stuff as we can.
It is NOT about getting things to earn money on the side.
It is NOT about getting rid of junk that would be better off in the landfill.
It is NOT about posting a "wish list" for expensive items and expecting a fairy
godmother to fulfill it for us.
It is NOT a community bulletin board for finding rentals, dentists, mechanics, or
advertising our businesses and services or special events.
What Freecycle IS about:
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Freecycle IS about keeping things out of the landfill.
It IS about giving away something that has no use in our life anymore to
someone who could extend its usefulness a little longer.
It IS about giving gifts to people while clearing out our own clutter.
It IS about creating, building, and sustaining an environmentally aware community.
Offering Items We No Longer Need to Those Who Need Them:
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When we post an OFFER, we are offering to give someone a gift. It is up to us to give this
gift to whomever we feel would be the best recipient. We are not obligated to give our gift to
someone who is rich, poor, single, married, has no kids,
has 1 kid, has 15 kids, has a car, doesn't have a car, or has a purple octopus
named George living in their shed. We can choose the most polite,
the rudest, the funniest, or the shortest response to receive our gift.
We can put their names in a hat and do a draw, or we can wave our magic fingers over our
screens and pick one that way. We can choose the first, 3rd, or 53rd respondent.
We can wait 24 hours and then decide. It is up to us.
Letting Other People Know What We Need:
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When we post a WANTED message, or respond to an offer, we are requesting a
gift.
The odds are that no one on this list will be able to give us what we are
asking for. But sometimes somebody will see a WANTED for a bowling ball and
go "AHA! I have one in my garage!" But, you know what? Just because we are rich, poor,
single, married, have no kids, have 1 kid, have 15 kids, have a car,
don't have a car, or have a purple octopus named George living in our shed, does not
mean we are more worthy of receiving a gift from a fellow
Freecycle member than the average person living down the street.
Sending emails that don't say "please" or "thank you" are a way to not receive an item.
Sending emails with nasty comments in them are one way to find us in a bit of trouble.
YOU ARE BUILDING A COMMUNITY BY PARTICIPATING
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We are part of a community. In every community, there are people who don't get along.
And in most communities, when two people don't get along,
they just avoid each other. To do that on Freecycle, all you have to do is set up a
filter to send any email from someone you don't want to hear from straight into your trash bin.
If you need help with that, let the moderators know and they can help you.
So, just remember: If you're offering a gift, it's up to you to decide who gets it.
And if you're requesting a gift...well, be patient. Your turn will come eventually,
but if you're not careful your name could end up on a 'will not give to' list.
Try starting off by making an OFFER to the list, just to see how the process works.
Look in your garage, loft or in that box you haven't unpacked since you moved in two years ago.
Prime stuff for Freecycle!
Please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthHollandFreecycle/ to join
Above all - keep on keeping "stuff" out of the landfill!
If you have any comments or questions, please send them to southhollandfreecycle-owner@yahoogroups.com.
