In an effort to get rid of a load of stuff, we have been using Freecycle a lot since returning from Oz. This is partly as a result of clearing out Dural but also because we are drowning in our own stuff and need to clear some (a lot) of it.
Freecycle, here anyway, works really well. It wasn’t so good in Oz. It seems that people prefer new to used. This may have something to do with the capitalist ideal of ‘chuck away old, buy new and keep the economy moving forwards’.
Conversely, Freecycle works really well here. Take today, for instance.
We decided to get rid of the folding bed we’ve lugged up and down the stairs for years and used a handful of times. I think we originally bought it when Claire came to stay with us which was many years ago. Okay, it came in very handy last week when I couldn’t climb the stairs but, essentially, it has been an excellent dust collector in the Old Rose Room.
I put the bed on Freecycle and within ten minutes I had a taker then, two hours later, it had gone to a new home. A Ukrainian couple picked it up, complete with big smiles and happy thank-yous.
Then there was Di who collected the Fortnum & Mason picnic basket yesterday. She was overjoyed with it, vowing to fill it with goodies for her daughter-in-law.
Of course, there’s some who let us down and the ones who expect delivery, but, all-in-all, the Freecycle community is a fantastic way to recycle and reuse rather than throw away.
In a leg update, my knee continues to improve. I reckon I’ll be up a ladder and removing the Christmas lights tomorrow as if nothing had happened.
In the meanwhilst, the girls went for their final Kate cut today. It was a very sad farewell as Kate handed them over. She refused to say goodbye because she felt she’d cry her eyes out. To be fair, I have known her since around 2008. We’ll miss her.
