Something for free

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - There's a new word flying around these days called "freecycling."

The Freecycle movement is a grass-roots network, made up of individual online Web sites across the globe. Members of the various sites give and get stuff for free by posting furniture, fish tanks and hundreds of other items on local Freecycle sites.

The first Freecycle group formed in Tucson, Ariz., in May 2003 as an attempt to keep reusable items from ending up in expanding landfills, which were eating into desert habitats. Today, more than 800,000 people are freecycling their belongings in nearly 2,200 online groups.

The freecycling wave has now hit the Valley, with two groups serving the Mat-Su area. Nearly two years ago, Wasilla resident Hariatma Kaur Khalsa founded the first group, known as Mat-Su Freecycle. Khalsa's group now stands at roughly 140 members, with more people joining every week.

Several months ago, Denise Rexford, who currently lives in Washington state, started another Mat-Su branch in Wasilla.

Rexford's group combined with a smaller Valley group started by Wasilla resident Patti Delano. Delano now co-monitors the combined Wasilla site with Rexford. Delano is also a member of the other Mat-Su Freecycle branch and switches back and forth between the two groups, looking for desired items.

The combined Wasilla site was formed when Rexford and her husband decided to move back to the Valley after living in Washington for two years. While there, Rexford formed a Freecycle branch in Pierce County.

In less than a year, the Washington group grew to 1,350 members, swapping everything from pet llamas to baby clothes.

One of the signature elements of the Freecycle network is that everything is absolutely free, including membership. Clothes, TVs, CDs, entertainment centers, swing sets and gift cards are just a few of the items that might pop up on any given day.

Freecycle members can browse the items throughout the day, looking for available goods. If a member finds something he wants, he lets the giver know he's interested by posting a message.

From there, it's up to the giver to set up a pickup time and location. Members may also post messages for items they want, so long as the requests are not excessive.

The goal is to recycle perfectly usable items that people might otherwise just toss in a landfill.

Rexford and her family still live in Washington but are packing for Alaska. She currently monitors both the Wasilla and Washington sites, spending three or four hours a day deleting old messages and making sure members follow Freecycle etiquette. When she moves, she'll hand the Washington reins over to a friend and focus her energies in Wasilla.

There are only a few Freecycle rules. For starters, trading, bartering, buying or selling are not allowed - if it's posted, it's got to be free.

In addition, the site is intended to be family-oriented, for all ages, so several items are banned. Tobacco, alcohol, firearms and several other items are not allowed, along with religious, political and sexual content. Other restricted items include junk e-mail, requests for advice, money and rentals. Those who violate the agreement get warned first and then possibly banned if they continue.

Freecycle groups also try to limit membership to those who live in a certain area. This is to ensure that people don't abuse the sites for advertising or other unwanted purposes.

With just over 40 Wasilla members, Rexford doesn't think her Wasilla site will be nearly as busy as the one in Washington - at least not right away.

"I don't do any advertising, so everything is just word of mouth," she said.

Once word starts spreading, however, Rexford said Freecycle sites grow quickly. In the last few weeks, her Washington site grew by 1,000 members, with 60 to 70 people joining every week.

"I think a lot of stuff goes to waste that can go to use," Rexford said. "People don't realize stuff can be reused and this is a way to help the community out."

In the past, Rexford's seen anything from horses to furniture to free mobile homes posted. While finding plenty of little treasures, Rexford said she has also given away many items, including planters, an above-ground swimming pool and a rocking chair.

"It's really amazing what you might find," she said. "Right now I'm collecting boxes off it for our move."

Rexford said the Wasilla site will be helpful to Alaskans who might enjoy thrift shopping but are unwilling or unable to drive all over the Valley looking for items.

"We have a lot of low-income families in Alaska that can't afford to go to a thrift store to buy the things they need," she said. "And why should people dump things when people can use it?"

To join or find information about local Freecycle groups, people may visit www.freecycle.org.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.