CIWMB Press Room Archives

State Aids Growth of World’s Largest Reuse Website: “Freecycle” expands online community, multiplies environmental benefits for California

SACRAMENTO--The holiday season usually brings jokes about trying to re-gift the unwanted fruitcake, but the concept of gifting unwanted products is paying huge dividends for the environment throughout the year.

More than 7 million people worldwide--including 375,000 in California--have now joined as members of Freecycle, the world’s largest reuse community. The website, www.freecycle.org, embraces the notion that it’s better to give away unwanted items than to throw those items away.

Freecycle has grown exponentially during the past two years, thanks to an innovative two-year, $50,000 contract with the California Integrated Waste Management Board which has allowed Freecycle to revamp and expand its web presence. The online materials exchange network is adding more than 45,000 new members every week, about 5,400 of them Californians.

“We wanted to partner with Freecycle because of its passion for sustainability, and the platform it provides to trigger a shift from ‘throwaway’ to ‘giveaway,’ ” said Board Chair Margo Reid Brown. “Californians want to do the right thing and they want to protect our environment. We need to give them every opportunity possible to expand recycling and cut our reliance on landfills.”

During the two-year partnership with the Board, Freecycle members gifted more than 825,000 items to other members of the online community.

During the past two years, Freecycle members have nearly doubled their waste diversion efforts, keeping an estimated 26,000 tons of unwanted goods out of landfills by finding new owners for the materials.

Waste is generated throughout the lifecycle of a product, from extraction of raw materials to transportation to processing and manufacturing. Reusing items decreases waste dramatically, since making a new product generates at least 20 times more waste. Far fewer materials end up being sent to landfills when products are reused or recycled.

“The goal of the site is to make it easier to give an item away than to throw the item away, thus keeping good stuff out of landfills and helping Mother Nature,” says Freecycle founder Deron Beal, who began the program in 2003. “Since the launch of our new site, which was made possible by the Board, our membership has doubled.”

Freecycle is global, but local. The Freecycle website in each city uses volunteer moderators and a unique e-mail group. The 375,000 Californians who have become Freecycle users represent more than 230 local communities.

Members in each local group are welcome to post items to be given away, or items they are seeking. The site promotes new uses for no-longer-wanted materials, which is also one of the Board’s highest priorities for keeping solid waste out of California’s landfills.

Freecycle’s motto is “changing the world one gift at a time.” Its members are gifting more than 20,000 unwanted items every day, which translates to about 700 tons of products diverted from the world’s landfills daily.

CIWMB Highlights

• In California, recycling is a viable, mainstream industry that is equivalent to the size of the motion picture industry.
• The state’s recycling industry accounts for about 85,000 jobs, generates $4 billion yearly in salaries and wages, and produces $10 billion worth of goods and services.

Freecycle Highlights

• The Freecycle Network is a private, nonprofit organization based in Tucson, Arizona, and overseen by local volunteers.
• More than 10,000 volunteers devote their time and energy to assisting Freecycle’s “gifting” in their local communities.
• More than 12,000 items per week have been posted on the Freecycle website since the beginning of this year, and approximately 1,500 of those weekly listings are offered by Californians.
• In 2007, Yahoo ranked “Freecycle” as the third most-searched environmental term--ahead of “earth” and “pollution.” Only “global warming” and “recycling” generated more Yahoo searches.

 

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is the state's leading authority on recycling and waste reduction. It promotes reducing waste whenever possible, managing all materials to their highest and best use, and protecting public health and safety and the environment.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board is one of six boards, departments, and offices within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

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Zero Waste California
Visit us at www.calrecycle.ca.gov to learn more about reducing waste.