How much clutter do you have in your house? Be honest. It’s hard to say, isn’t it?
Unless you are one of those outstanding individuals who lives with 13, 37, or 42 things. Then, I’m going to do the math for you. Zero. The answer is zero. You have no clutter.
But if you are like most of the Western world, you have too much stuff. I know I do. Maybe you’ve tried your hand at selling online. Maybe you’ve even used Craigslist or hosted a garage sale. What do you do with the stuff that won’t budge?
RELATED POST: Don’t Be Clueless about Clutter: 20 Signs You Have Too Much Stuff
Don’t give it to Goodwill.
You read that right.
Don’t.
It’s nothing personal. Well, maybe it is. Goodwill fat cats pull in huge salaries while some of their workers get paid pennies. It’s perfectly legal. It’s also supremely lousy.
Goodwill also has to toss a lot of what gets donated. But that’s less on Goodwill and more on us as consumers. We buy way too much to begin with (guilty as charged) and then treat the drop offs like garbage cans.
As someone who once thought of a Goodwill drop box as a perfectly convenient solution to my stuff, I was stymied with stuff. Until I found Freecycle. Now, a decluttering match made in heaven is happening in my inbox.
Freecycle functions exactly like Craigslist or OfferUp. People post offers and people claim them. The catch is exactly zero dollars are exchanged. Instead, people gift things to random Internet strangers.
(A quick caveat: There aren’t any tax write-offs for these warm feelies. You’ll have to be satisfied that you’ve going green and can, you know, see your basement floor now.)
I had heard Freecycle mentioned here and there as an option, but I hadn’t really seen any in-depth posts on what actually works for Freecycle. I started posting a few pieces of clothing that I knew wouldn’t fetch more than a few pennies but still had a lot of life left in them. No surprise there. But the amount of things that I’ve been able to list and have been met with tons of enthusiasm inspired me to share all the details with you.
Before you throw things out, before you ignore my plea not to simply drop off another bag a Goodwill, check out what I’ve rehomed. Chances are, some of it will surprise you.
What I’ve Freecycled So Far
Women’s clothing – An assorted bundle of tops. Nothing fancy or designer, but nothing with stains or snags. I did post a photo that went along with it.
Scarves – A bundle of fashion scarves. I know, I know. You think flight attendant when you think scarves, but truth be told they are also the teacher uniform of our own doing. The problem is that no one needs as many as I had. So I sent seven to a better home.
Ribbon – I did one posting for all the various spools of yellow, green, and orange ribbons that were from my wedding florals. Most of the spools had some ribbon cut. These went like hot cakes. I got 8 replies in less than 5 hours!
Wedding ribbon – I had two spools of leftover white ribbon that our florist used to make pew bows. Also went like hot cakes.
Lime green From the Mr. and Mrs wedding ribbon – I kid you not. There was a time in my life when I spent $6 on spools of ribbon to tie gift tags on flip flops because what $30,000+ wedding is complete without a basket of dancing shoes. Apparently, I am not alone because three people wanted these.
Stained baby clothes – This was hands down my most important Freecycle realization. I was going to throw these out or take them to a textile recycler. I posted them, and I was more than a little embarrassed. It felt insulting. Instead, an expectant mom messaged me right away and begged that I save them.
Baby hangers – We were gifted quite a bit of clothing for HP over the first year of his life. I never had the heart to toss the plastic hangers that the clothes came on. It just seems so wasteful. I posted these on Freecycle again thinking it was a waste. I also posted them on OfferUp because I really wanted them to go to a good home. I had dueling responses, and I now have a woman on permanent standby on OfferUp for any future hangers.
Essential oils – I was gifted two different oils, one to use while pregnant and one to use to help my baby sleep. The problem is that both of them had a bananas amount of fine print on the back. So I took a hard pass and did not contribute to any pyramid shaped selling platforms. I had 17 responses in my inbox after I posted these items. It was like I was giving away gold.
Final Thoughts on Freecycle
My Freecycle journey has just started. I plan to also cross-post on OfferUp. I may also do some posting on NextDoor (though that app is largely too much drama in my neighborhood).
I realize based on the excitement that some of my posts generated that I probably could have gotten a few dollars for some of these things I gave away. The problem good thing is that I’m not interested in the dollars anymore. More space, more time, and more sanity in a more eco-friendly fashion is reward enough.
So Tell Me…Have you ever tried Freecycle? Did anything I gave away surprise you?
Is this a local thing? Or do you need to ship the stuff?
I just moved and there’s a bunch of stuff I’m finding just doesn’t work for the new place, and probably needs to go.
You sign up based on your neighborhood or city. You can be in multiple groups if you want. I might join a few neighboring towns just to cover more ground. Then, when you get a message that someone is interested, you arrange for a pick up or meet up. So far, I’ve just had people come by for porch pick ups.
You’re making my minimalist heart so happy! I’ve never actually used Freecycle but have used other apps like Kijiji to give stuff away for free. I think it’s the best of both worlds if you have stuff that won’t necessarily fetch you a lot of money but you don’t want to send it off to Goodwill or Value Village.
The only thing that surprised me about what you got rid of were the essential oils. I have about 10 oils I use for different things, so I’d almost certainly find a use for them. But, they aren’t MLM oils lol they’re just from my days of working in a health food store.
You’re making my minimalist heart so happy! I’ve never actually used Freecycle but have used other apps like Kijiji to give stuff away for free. I think it’s the best of both worlds if you have stuff that won’t necessarily fetch you a lot of money but you don’t want to send it off to Goodwill or Value Village.
The only thing that surprised me about what you got rid of were the essential oils. I have about 10 oils I use for different things, so I’d almost certainly find a use for them. But, they aren’t MLM oils lol they’re just from my days of working in a health food store.
I figured I would send them off to someone who appreciated them. We don’t even own a diffuser, and all of the cautions on the back of the bottle made me feel like they were better off in the hands of someone who knew how to use them!
This sounds like something I need too try ASAP! I have two perfectly fine windows to get rid of from a recent renovation. The idea that there is someone out there who actually wants baby hangers and stained clothes proves that I should try harder to pass these things along rather than toss them!
I honestly still can’t wrap my head around the hangers. I was looking at them and looking at them, and then I realized that I had seen hanger tabs for sale at Buy Buy Baby that were just little pieces of plastic to mark sizes. I thought, well, if people buy those, maybe someone wants these. THEY DO!
Good luck with the windows. If Freecycle isn’t very active in your area, I’ve heard lots of good things about FB Marketplace!
I’m going to have to try this out! I’ve rounded up a bunch of things to give away, but was thinking twice about taking them to Goodwill. Thank you for recommending this!
I’ve heard of Freecycle but never used it. I’m so glad you listed your successfully rehomed items. They make me feel better about the hodge-podge of stuff I could add to the cause. I’ll have to give this a try!
I love this! Freecycle isn’t so active in my neighborhood anymore but I’m part of two Buy Nothing Project groups on facebook that I use constantly. One is specifically for families with young children so there’s a lot of kids clothes, toys, shoes and maternity stuff too. I’ve given and received so much and saved what I’m guessing is hundreds of dollars by joining these groups. I now hate selling things and much prefer to give away because of the more immediate gratification of GETTING RID OF STUFF.
I will look into this, Joslyn. Thank you! Freecycle is serving me well so far, but I love having multiple options.
I haven’t looked into Freecycle yet. Our local Buy Nothing groups all overlap such that our particular area is totally left out. *grump* But I’m not energetic enough to start something on my own.
What I can’t sell, I try to donate to the Dept of CA Veterans, to the local homeless shelter, to the animal shelter, etc. I felt bad handing down clothes with paint stains on them but now I think I should poll Twitter and see if people are happy to accept them after all.
I’ve got a growing pile of things in my room that I’m getting rid of but the actual getting rid of part (especially if it doesn’t involve Goodwill) is absolutely overwhelming to think about. I’ll have to give Freecycle a try!
I’ve definitely used Freecycle in the past. As long as you are honest about the condition (with photos), you will be surprised what things people want. Even broken electronics. I suspect some folks are using the parts to fix other things and/or they are artists seeking materials.
I love that you are spreading the word about goodwill and submininum wage for employees with disabilities. So many people aren’t yet aware.
You taught me! I honestly could not believe how easy it was to find that information. They don’t even do anything to counter it (not that you could, but I figured maybe some PR person somewhere would have SEO-ed a warm fuzzies piece or something). NADA!