The Freecycle Network is “a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.”
This is an important issue to us. We don’t have trash service, so we lug our waste (and recycling) to the dump ourselves. You wouldn’t believe what people will throw away. And it’s illegal (at least in Douglas County) to dive in after it. Going to the dump is always a lesson in being better stewards. Unfortunately, the people who could really use some educatin’ are the ones that will never go to the dump.
That’s the depressing part; Freecycle is the good news! Douglas County has a group, and Chris and I have given away two papasan chairs covered in cat hair, a large bag of cashmere scraps, some manilla folders, and an artificial Christmas tree.
Last week, we had our first experience with the other side. Chris sent out a request for leftover insulation. (We’re finally repairing our shower – hooray!) Hoping for a scrap piece, we wound up with a roll of new insulation that someone just wanted out of his garage. (Actually, I think it was his wife that wanted it out of the garage.)
My guess is we’ll use some of it and then store the remainder for a few years before posting it on Freecycle for someone else.
thoughtful consumption 
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