MCC Daily Tribune

Green Tip: Your Junk May Be Someone's Treasure

So, you’ve recycled what you can. Donated what you can. You still have stuff that you just know would be useful to someone. What else can you do?  Freecycle. Freecycling is when a person passes along, for free, an unwanted item to another person who needs that item. The Freecycle Network is a nonprofit that coordinates a network of these gifting groups. There are several in the Rochester area. All Freecycle items are gifted freely and are for direct pickup.  You do need to join to participate in the Freecycle group.

Don’t want to join yet another online group?  Check out the groups you are already in; many offer options to list items that are free for pickup.

Nextdoor –this hyperlocal social networking service for neighborhoods has a built-in “for sale & free” feature. Contact is done through the app. No cost to join or list items.

Facebook – Facebook marketplace lets you post items for sale or for free. Once you post an item, you can post that to other Facebook groups that you can join such as the “Penfield, Fairport, Webster, and East Rochester Yard Sale Page” or “Rochester, Buy, Sell, and Trading” for a more focused audience. Post your item for $0 to give it away for free.  Contact is done through Facebook Messenger. No cost to join or list items.

Craigslist – Account not required! You can post items ‘for sale by owner’ under the ‘free stuff’ category (no "wanted" ads, pets, promotional giveaways, or intangible/digital items please). You may want to use a Google Voice phone number to post as a contact. No cost to join or list items.

Sometimes we do just need to let go of items.  If no one wants your items, please do recycle or dispose of them properly.

This is the last of a three-article series on ways to recycle your unwanted stuff. The first article in April focused on recycling at Ecopark. In May, donation options were covered.

Ann Penwarden
Sustainability Steering Committee’s Recycling Committee
06/08/2021