How to Find an Alternative to Freecycle
There are many reasons to consider alternatives to Freecycle and, fortunately, many alternatives to consider.
[edit] Steps
- Read why people are unhappy with how The Freecycle Network is run at GreenRibbon or IMod Uncensored
- Understand how Freecycle depends on Yahoo Groups and what problems this causes. Read about Freecycle's use of Yahoo Groups
- Consider the alternatives.
- Web Sites
- Built to support local recycling efforts, web sites like LocalDataPlace make recycling even easier!
- Other Yahoo Groups
- People have setup other Yahoo Groups that don't contain the word "Freecycle" but typically operate in a similar way. See http://freesharing.org/ , http://www.sharingisgiving.org/ , or http://reuseitnetwork.org
- Forum Systems
- People who move away from Yahoo Groups sometimes use other free software to run their groups, including software that is typically used for discussion forums. Since they were not built for recycling, these suffer from the same technical problems as Yahoo.
- Research your alternative group before joining! Both Freecycle and the major alternatives have some codes of practise in place to limit the activities of moderators or dismiss those who abuse their position. Others have no such safeguards. One alternative I joined used its members e-mail addresses for spam - another group redirected searches to auction sites.
- If you want to unleash books, CDs or DVDs try swap services like Titletrader, Paperbackswap, Bookmooch.com, Peerflix, SwapShop.co.uk or Lala.com.
- If you want to get rid of cosmetics that turned out to be the wrong color for you etc., try swapping at http://www.makeupalley.com/swap/ .
- Make your choice!
