I've been involved with Freecycle for about four or five years -- what a difference now from when I first got on two lists! (Besides the fact that the lists themselves have multiplied -- I've limited myself to just the two original lists I signed on to.)

Back then, far fewer people were involved and, in theory, non-profits had first dibs (at least, that was in the guidelines). And people didn't post greedy laundry lists, dream lists, of stuff they just wanted rather than needed.

Since I was primarily trying to find homes for good stuff that was too good to throw out and a yardsale takes too much time and trouble for the return, it worked fine. Still does. I even got a couple things I could use -- generally NOT by posting a "Want". I'm not crazy about the current trend of cluttering up the lists with wishful instead of needful "wants".

One of my best Freecycle experiences was finding homes for two manual typewriters. One went to a local Easter Seal organization to address envelopes. The other went to a six-year-old boy who was fascinated by typewriters and like to make books. How cool is that!

Linn