I do love a low price, and you can’t get lower than Zero. The good news is that there are a gazillion useful items out there that are just yours for the taking: everything from moving boxes to mature trees. And we all know how irritating immature trees can be.
The enlightened folks who donate these freebies realize that it makes more sense to give something away rather than dump it in the landfill. So when you take someone’s electric juicer, you are not just being thrifty: you are protecting the environment. Frugaholics tend to think green.
” title=”www.Freecycle.org” target=”_blank”>www.Freecycle.org It’s a really cool site where you can search for free goods, or recycle your own excess. It costs nothing to join, and the offerings are varied. A glance at one day’s posts included a vacuum cleaner, a wooden desk, 50 sheets of poster paper, and cherry-flavored Nyquil.
Last week, I scored a shopping bag full of hair products, toiletries, and unused make-up. Then my husband needed to get rid of his old computer monitor. I posted a listing, and it was gone within 24 hours, which is a lot better than having to schlep it over to the electronic waste dump.
Freecycle has thousands of local groups representing millions of members. As a result, they are currently keeping over 500 tons a day out of landfills. This amounts to five times the height of Mt. Everest in the past year alone, when stacked in garbage trucks. In spite of the old inspirational song, “Climb Every Mountain,” I say that’s one mountain no one should have to climb.
