www.freecycle.org
MAKING WASTE COUNT
Are you looking for any used item -- a chair, a mobile phone -- or do you want to dispose of old things? Simply sign up with the freecycle.org, send an e-mail with your offer or respond to a member's offer of the local Freecycle group. But one most important rule -- everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.
Freecycle.org, a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement, was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson, USA. It now links more than 3,500 local yahoo groups, with more than 2 million members in more than 70 countries, who are trying to minimise waste by giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Thus the network provides individuals and nonprofit organisations an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items.
Within each group, members offer items they don't want anymore, to anyone else in the group, for free. A local volunteer moderates each local group. To sign up, you just need to find a local community, which is arranged region-wise. In India, there are eight such groups: in Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Jalandhar. If you can't find a group near you, you can start one of your own -- just click on "Start a Group" for instructions.
Besides, the website also provides a section called 'Freecyclopedia': the place to go for more information on the three Rs -- reduce, reuse and recycle.
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