A new local recylcing group set up to give things away rather than send them to landfill.
Seahouses and Alnwick Freegle give individuals, businesses and organisations like charities, schools or community groups a way to “recycle” unwanted household, office and other items, using an internet forum. Freegle was started in 2009 and already there are over
200 groups in the UK.
Freegle’s aims are to reduce waste by re-using things, to save resources and ease the burden on landfills by “gifting them” free of charge to
other members rather than throwing them awa.
All Freegle groups are run by volunteers and provide an internet site where members can list
“offers of items” or “wants for items”. Members receive an e-mail message every time something is added or a longer Daily Digest of all new messages once or twice a day.
Freegle doesn’t have many rules but the main ones are:
Items must be given away for free and collected from the gifter.
Everything must be legal.
And it keeps something out of a landfill site.
Items offered on Freegle tend to be household goods, the things we all keep in our attics, sheds and garages or need to get rid of if we buy something new – fridges and washing machines, sofas, tables and chairs, beds. computer equipment, books, toys and clothes. People can make requests, if there is something specific they would like.
Members have disposed of all sorts of things, small and large: occasionally there have been cars or caravans, down to a stack of coat hangers and even hair clippers. Other types of offers included an artificial christmas tree, rabbit
hutch, ceiling light and fan, baby basket and even a small tool shed. Freegle is certainly much easier than taking it to the skips and cheaper than paying the local authority to collect it.
If you live in the Seahouses or Alnwick area, have something around the house, shed, attic or garage that you think might be useful to somebody else and want to give it away for free go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SeahousesAnd AlnwickFreegle and find out more.