Hi - Greetings from Canada

[egssge]

Hello!

I'm Eric Snyder from Ottawa, Canada. This forum caught my attention from a Google search for "Garage Sale Economy". I started the Freecycling movement here in Ottawa / Eastern Ontario in Feb/2004.

I've been boggled by the size of the "underground", under-the-radar, economy of freecycling / gifting / garage sales / yard sales in North America -- what I've personally labeled the "Clutterbucks Economy".

I'm also finding that retired people have completely different perspectives on all of this than young people.

Look forward to engaging with others here about the "Clutterbucks" Economy.

Eric Snyder
Ottawa.FullCircles.org
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[kcowan]

Decluttering gets mixed votes here with some advocates and others still prisoners to their "stuff".

 

[Martha]

Greetings from northern Minnesota! Craigslist is pretty popular in my town for getting rid of stuff. Both to sell and to give away. I successfully gave away lots of old landscaping material such as edging using Craigslist. Freecycle hasn't quite caught on to the same extent but it is growing in popularity.

Too much stuff that can be used by others gets thrown away.

 

[Milton]

Too much stuff that can be used by others gets thrown away.

True enough. But I suspect in many cases people who are prisoners to 'stuff' they no longer use would be happy to give it away if they could easily find someone who would value it. The thought of wasting 'perfectly good' stuff often keeps people from junking things.

 

[egssge]

Prisoners to "stuff"...

...in many cases people who are prisoners to 'stuff' they no longer use would be happy to give it away if they could easily find someone who would value it. The thought of wasting 'perfectly good' stuff often keeps people from junking things.

This certainly is a problem in our Western society. We seem to have some kind of mental block against using used stuff. It's gotta be new. There's almost a perceived stigma to admitting that you would use used stuff. Yet there is way too much out there sitting idle. Tons and tons of it filling up people's homes, and overflowing into rented storage. Stuff that people bought because they were sucked in by advertising; believed they'd use it; used it once or twice or a few times; then tucked it away -- out of sight out of mind, often for years and years and years. The stuff accumulates, build up, mercilessly - just like ice on a ship in frigid waters.

Freecycling groups; fullcircles groups; craigslist; and usedanywhere.com groups are great for EASILY giving away stuff to people who would value and USE it. People who aren't afflicted with the stigma tend to join and frequent these groups. They don't have a problem using used stuff. But, you have to have patience. Sometimes it takes a while to get someone to actually come and pick up your unwanted stuff. There's so much stuff for these folks to pick and choose from!

 

[Ultimate Cheapskate]

Hi Eric -

Welcome aboard. LOVE the freecycle! In fact, I just filmed a segment on freecycle for the Planet Green network here in the states. It's so refreshing to see the good work that can come from people simply working together.

Stay Cheap!
-Jeff Yeager