Freecycle

FREECYCLE.ORG

Every business produces a certain amount of clean, usable
waste. As a responsible, community minded business owner
you should be aware of a local conservation effort called
Freecycle.

Freecycle focuses on recycling items that would normally end up
in landfills, for lack of space, or other reasons having nothing to
do with the usefulness of the item. Including the kitchen sink,
everything from crayons to clothes, from appliances to
automobiles, is exchanged here. Anything, legally speaking of
course, is welcome.

The group's sole way of communication between members is
through a series of messages on an Internet bulletin board. All
posts look like emails with a subject line and then a body to the
message. These messages can be posted directly on the board
or sent via email. It's very easy for you to join and use these
groups. It's free and takes only minutes…really.


Whatever clean waste your particular business creates, someone
else could probably use it. The best advantage for you is, as
you use the Freecycle Network, you'll become known to the
growing local online community as the company that cares.
Another advantage not to be underrated is the increase, however
slight, of traffic at your storefront. Even 2 extra cars a week
would be to your benefit.

Of course, the biggest advantage is to the
community by making less stress on the
landfill that's literally right down the street
from us.

Use the following instructions and sign up. Membership is free,
and you'll find lots of your neighbors already 'freecycling'. The
membership totals for groups in Englewood-Rotonda, Venice,
North Port and Port Charlotte combined is approx 5000.


Start by going to Yahoo.com. If you don't already have a free
Yahoo ID, get one. Simply click the "Sign Up" Button and
follow directions to get your free email address. That address
and password will be your ticket to all the free services that
Yahoo has to offer, including Freecycle.

If you are a business owner, I suggest creating a Yahoo name
from your business name. This way, you'll get "credit" for
giving all those wonderful things as away. If your business name
has been taken, it's easy to stand out by adding your town at the
end of your business name. For instance my Yahoo ID is
Blindsblindsenglewood. You can use this as the email box for
your group messages, or have the messages go to your regular
email address. Either way, you'll only get the amount of email
you want, by choosing individual, daily or weekly notices, when
you sign up.

Now, go to FREECYCLE.ORG and type in your zip code for a
group search. The results will be a list of groups in your area.
JOIN THE GROUP CLOSEST TO YOU, and any others that
you feel are not too far away to drive to. Keep in mind these are
all conservation minded people and they discourage driving too
far to pick stuff up. Some groups even make you tell them your
zip code before they approve your membership. Ozone layer,
and all,……

Once you are in, and your membership approved, look down the
list of messages and you will see that each post starts with either
OFFER, TAKEN, WANTED, or FOUND.


Here's brief description of each type of post and what the
subject line of that post would look like if I posted that
message.

OFFER – Cardboard Boxes – Corner of 776 & Spinnaker
Of course, use this when you have something to
give away, these posts are supposed to come with
the closest major crossroads, and/or the city you
are in. So, if you've chosen your business name as
your Yahoo ID, EVERY POST you make will have
your business name and location in it. The body of
the message goes on to explain exactly what you
are offering.

TAKEN – Cardboard Boxes
This is used when someone comes and picks up
what you had offered. This lets all the other users
know that the item is gone.




WANTED – Working Cash Register – Englewood
It might seem like a wish list, people are so
generous sometimes, especially here where we live,
but people who try to abuse the group are usually
collectively, and sometimes not silently shunned.
Wanted Posts are useful not only to the people
who need and hope to get something, but also to
the general reader, who as they peruse through the
messages, might be reminded of unused items they
have, that someone else could use.


FOUND – Working Cash Register – Thanks so much!
When you get what you need, a nice post is
appreciated and encourages all the rest of us to
keep giving and using Freecycle.



Try to offer something at least once a week, to keep your posts
fresh, and on top of the lists. If you do, between the "Offers"
and the "Takens", your business name will be in front of people
AT LEAST 8 times a month.

Go to FREECYCLE.ORG and sign up today!