Network your unwanted stuff with Freecycle

One day, Susan Ostry of Prague cleaned her garage and hauled everything she didn’t want to the local landfill.

Even some good, reusable stuff.

“I still feel guilty about it,” she said.

Last year, Ostry found a solution to her problem of too much stuff and not enough time to hold a garage sale.

The Freecycle Network is a grassroots, non-profit worldwide organization of small, local groups that give and get items for free, through an Internet Web site.

Potential members can sign up after going online to find a Freecycle group in their area. Membership is anonymous, free and offers individuals and non-profit organizations a way to recycle unwanted items.

After hearing from a friend about the Freecycle Network, Ostry decided to start a group of her own in the Prague area. Since January, membership has grown to 47 and includes people from Prague, Fremont, Valparaiso, David City, Malmo, Schuyler, North Bend and Ulysses.

Business is brisk and picking up, Ostry said.

“We exchange books,” she said, “and clothing our children have outgrown. I have boys who go through jeans like crazy.”

Most items listed on the Prague group Web site carry descriptions with givers’ or receivers’ comments. A recent online check revealed several giveaways, including an outdoor shed (“needs a good hosing off”), a one-cup coffeemaker (“works great, just not my style”), and an 18-inch ultraviolet reptile light bulb (“anyone have a lizard or turtle that needs UV light?”)

Ostry said the Freecycle group is ideal for persons who live far from Goodwill stores or similar donation sites.

“Not everyone has a Goodwill in their town,” she said, “and Goodwill is getting picky about what they will take.”

Through the Freecycle network, she said, members can sometimes find computer monitors, appliances and other items which charitable organizations do not accept or offer.

Such gifts, Ostry said, help fulfill the Freecycle mission statement calling for a move to reduce waste, save resources and ease the burdens on landfill while enabling members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.

“It’s a person’s choice as to what to give,” she said. “Whether it’s in your heart to give to someone you know or to a local charity, there are many local people who fall through the cracks.”

Everything posted on the Freecycle site must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages, Ostry said, and members usually arrange to meet in public places to give or get items.

“Schools and non-profits are welcome to post their needs,” she said. “I looked for items to help the Title One kids in Prague and I found things, puzzles, flash cards, crayons … I’m amazed at the networking that goes on.”

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The Freecycle Network has groups in about 4,000 communities worldwide, including Omaha with 4,896 members, Fremont with 357, and West Point with 45.

For more information, go to http://www.freecycle.org .