From cardboard to pet water dispensers and sofas, Freecycle is a national nonprofit organization which allows people to divert reusable items from landfills by giving them away for free on online forums.

With chapters across the world, Freecycle gives community members the ability to post unwanted items for free pick-up or post inquiries for wanted items as well. In Washington, D.C., the community interacts via the Facebook page, Washington DC Freecycle. 

One person’s trash is another’s treasure

According to the EPA, in 2018, the average American produced 4.9 pounds of trash daily, totaling 1,789 pounds of trash per year, of which only 32.1 percent was recycled. 

“Our mission is to build a worldwide sharing movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community,” Freecycle mission statement states.

The Freecycle website states their network comprises 5,000 local Town groups with over 11 million members with the Washington D.C. Freecycle group amassing over 13,200 members. The only rules to join is everything a user posts must be “free, legal and appropriate.”

“Membership is free, and everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages,” the website states. 

One member of Washington D.C. Freecycle is Arun Isukapalli, 41, is a tech product manager who said he found the group when moving back to the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area about a year ago from New Zealand with his wife. 

Although the previous owners of their residence left items behind, he said they got “almost everything” they needed off Facebook marketplace or Freecycle. 

“We haven’t bought anything new,” Isukapalli said.

Building community

One admin of the group is Gloria Strange, 35, who is a massage therapist and said in an ideal world” Freecycle should not be “niche group” but rather a government run organization. Strange said she wants to see a more “collectivist” idea of community rather than having to rely on purchasing more items or help from the government. 

“I would like for us to see community as the pillar instead of the government,” Strange said. 

Strange also said she downsized to a smaller apartment three years ago and used Freecycle to give away some of her furniture. But she said the most items people try and give away are cardboard. 

Another admin of the D.C. chapter, Garner Chandler, 64, is retired but now volunteers as the Co-Vice President of the Woman’s National Democratic Club. Chandler said she moved to Washington, D.C. from the panhandle of Florida approximately two and half years ago where she found the group online. 

She recalls one woman on the site who posted how she was starting over after her husband left her and she was renting a one bedroom apartment with two babies. Chandler said between half a dozen and a dozen people asked to help through giving away some of their unwanted goods. 

“Our community is obviously passionate about the environment or helping each other out,” Chandler said. 

Joining Freecycle

Chandler said all one has to do to join Washington D.C. Freecycle is answer a few simple questions, get approved by a moderator and they are in. She said she has accepted people in as little as four minutes. 

“It’s easy to join the group,” Chandler said. 

Even if one joins Facebook with the intent of only joining Freecycle, or is a new user, it does bar not them from joining Washington D.C. Freecycle unlike other groups. Instead, their posts are reviewed by admins for the first 30 days while they are in the group. 

The organization can help college students living in dorms save money and the environment. 

At the beginning of the school year, a college student can find free furniture and other necessities during move-in season. While dumpsters are often overflowing with reusable goods at the end of the school year, students can post their reusable goods on Freecycle to give away. 

If interested in getting involved in Washington D.C. Freecycle, click here. Or if not located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, look up “Freecycle” on Facebook and click join group.