Freecycling to save money

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Posted: 11:02 PM Jul 27, 2008
Last Updated: 9:26 AM Jul 28, 2008
Reporter: Stephanie Brletic
Email Address: stephanie.brletic@kxii.com

9 comments

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SHERMAN, TX -- We've heard of recycling, taking one thing and reusing it for something else. Free-cycling probably sounds too good to be true, but it's not. Some local people ask for things they need, while other people post things they have to offer.

If you live in Sherman, it's easy to head to the Towne Center to shop. The strip mall has many stores to choose from, but nearly two thousand people in the Sherman area have become ‘freecyclers.’ They are skipping the mall, and instead hitting the freecycling site on their computer.

The site offers un-needed items or asks for wanted items, all for free. It ranges from grills, furniture, children's toys, and even clothes.

Tony Dean became a freecycler after learning about the site from a friend.

"These are difficult times, and I started learning to really save my money as best I can, for the future anyway. If somebody's giving something away, heck, if I got a way to pick it up, I'll pick it up and vice versa."

Like many parents, Dean was helping his daughter prepare for college life. Rather than break the bank, he and his daughter turned to fellow freecyclers.

"She was in school and getting ready to move into a house, and we were talking about the various goods and I said, shoot, let's save money and look on that freecyle and see what you can find on there. And she did, she looked at it, the only problem is going to pick it up. How to pick it up is the issue," Dean says.

Dean isn't just interested in getting free items from his community. He returned the favor. He’s given away bags of clothes, furniture, and even kitchenware.

"I started getting e-mails and I did first come, first serve. And probably within thirty minutes, I had everything given away."

He shouldn't be surprised by the quick response. According to Yahoo's Sherman freecycling site, since it's creation in March of 2005, the board has gone from a meager 12 posts that first month, to 445 posts so far this month.

See for yourself at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShermanTXFreecycle/. It's free to join and anyone is welcome.

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Comments are posted from viewers like you and do not always reflect the views of this station.

Posted by: Anonymous on Dec 6, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Wow. I'm on Freecycle in Sherman and in another town in TX. I noticed that the Freecycle Sherman has about 10 "wants" for every "offer", and the Freecycle in the other town I live in has an equal amount of "wants" and "offers". Are people in the Sherman area just greedy?

Posted by: reader Location: ardmore on Jul 29, 2008 at 09:27 AM
thank you V Adams.

Posted by: V Adams Location: Ardmore on Jul 28, 2008 at 04:43 PM
the link for the Ardmore chapter of freecycle is groups.yahoo.com/group/ardmorefreecycle/ There is also a similair group called cheapcycle where items are actually for sale.

Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 28, 2008 at 03:16 PM
What do you mean "get this started"? There is already one for this area: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ShermanTXFreecycle/

Posted by: reader Location: ardmore on Jul 28, 2008 at 01:22 PM
how do you get this started?

Posted by: c Location: Grayson County on Jul 28, 2008 at 09:52 AM
Then try the original group, Grayson County Earthcycle...100% local and independent. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GraysonCountyEarthcycle/

Posted by: Me Location: Sherman on Jul 28, 2008 at 09:52 AM
Look again because it's there I've been a member for more than 2 years now.

Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 28, 2008 at 09:17 AM
Our local Freecycle for Sherman absolutely sucks. It's nothing but unwed moms asking for free baby stuff, people asking for exercise equipment and electronics, and people giving away unwanted pets (the latter of which are not allowed to be posted on most other Freecycle groups). You offer something and you get a ton of responses from people who want it, but then they never come to pick it up!

Posted by: Anonymous on Jul 28, 2008 at 01:24 AM
I couldn't find any listings for Sherman, TX. DUH????

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