Behind the Scenes at Rochester Freecycle

BY DP DUNN

say you have an item you no longer want, but it’s too good to toss out. Garage sale? Way too busy. Donate it to a charitable group? Set it at the end of the driveway with a big sign that says FREE? Or give it away on the Freecycle Network.

According to their website, “ e Freecycle Network® is made up of more than 5,000 local town groups with over 9 million members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonpro t movement of people who are giving (and getting) stu for free in their own towns and keeping good stu out of land lls. Membership is free, and everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.” e Rochester NY Freecycle group is one of the 5,357 worldwide Freecycle groups where our 4,750 + members (out of 10,765,511 worldwide) o er and request still usable items to keep them out of land lls. ere are a few options. Members can come to your home, meet up at a location convenient to both parties, or if you feel particularly magnanimous, you can o er to drop the item o !

Meet Patti, one of the Rochester Freecycle Group moderators. Patti, how would you brie y describe the Rochester Freecycle Group?

How do people meet to give or receive an item?

Is this a ‘quid pro quo’ arrangement? Do I have to give you one thing in exchange for another?

Not at all! While there are a few guidelines having to do with how o en you request a speci c item, there are no quali cations such as making your rst post an o er, balancing the number of wanted vs o er posts, etc. In fact, there is no borrowing, swapping/trading unless you have you own “friend’s circle.”

What can, or cannot, be o ered via Freecycle?

KEEP IT FREE, LEGAL & APPROPRIATE FOR ALL AGES. is means, for example:

* No tobacco, rearms or other weapons, profane or sexual content, alcohol;

*Nomedicationsofanykind,includingallRxandOTCmedicines, vitamins, creams, lotions, including some medical equipment and supplies ;

* Personal care items must be unopened;

* Food must be unopened;

* No yard sales, Curb Alerts or o ering or requesting money for ANY reason;

* No animal posting; What are the oddest or most unusual items you’ve seen on the Rochester Freecycle group?

We had an “o er” post where someone was giving away an old porch because they were getting a new one. e catch was that the person would have to dismantle the concrete base and steps and remove them from the property. We did not allow it because of the “strings attached.”

An ‘honorable mention’ goes to a man that asked for extralarge false teeth to chew through his wife’s bad cooking, and a replacement hearing aid with an on and o switch because his current one doesn’t allow him to shut it o and all his wife does is complain all day long.

Is it di cult to join?

Not at all. Signup is found at https://www.freecycle.org/signup. Once there, you enter a user name, email, and password. We ask that user names be “family friendly.” en you look for town groups you would like to join and click “Join is Group.” Some groups prefer to approve new members and others let you join immediately but o en put you on moderation until you have posted without any issues.

What do you want everyone to know about Freecycle and why should they join?

Freecycle is a nice way to give back to the community. It gives those asking for items a place to post without judgment for the most part. ose who o er items are o en “paying it forward.” Yes, some members are looking for someone else to get rid of their junk for them, but this is Rochester; those “useless items” have been turned into pieces of art and grace our city and suburbs with beauty. During Covid, I received quite a few messages asking me please to reopen for posting. ese messages were from members who wanted to make sure everyone had what they needed to get through the long pandemic isolation. I love this group!

For more information on the Freecycle Network, visit their website: www.freecycle.org.

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