by the way, we just had an article in the Oregonian about us today. And, the group has jumped in membership.

Here's the article

Oregonians eagerly prove freecycling gets better with use

11/13/03

A good idea is a terrible thing to waste. And freecycling is a goodidea about how to make useful the things that often go to waste:everyday objects that have accumulated in your home, your garage oryour car trunk over the past few years or decades.

Back in April, a New Mexico man named Deron Beal came up with a wayto recycle those kinds of objects in a way that didn't involvelandfills or garage sales.

He called his plan "freecycling," and here's how it works: People ina geographical area join an Internet listserv, which is like an e-mail mailing list. Then members of the group send e-mails offering,for free, objects they want to get rid of that others might finduseful. Members also can request items they need.

After the Portland Freecycling listserv was described in this columnon Oct. 19, the local group's membership jumped from 300 to more than1,000 in a day. And it kept growing.

"It was kind of a crazy couple days," says Albert Kaufman, whofounded the Portland Freecycle list in September. Within days, otherOregon freecycle lists were begun.

Freecycling is catching on fast all over the world. Five groups havebegun in India; groups in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Johannesburg,South Africa, are about to start; London, New York City and Tokyoalready have freecycle groups.

But nowhere on Earth has freecycling caught on as fast as it has inOregon. Out of 60 groups around the globe, 12 are in Oregon. As ofthis week, there are groups based in the Columbia River Gorge,Astoria, Bend, Coos County, Lincoln City, Salem, Springfield, Eugene,Medford, the Central Oregon coast, McMinnville and Portland.Vancouver also has a list.

And the items that have traded hands in the past three weeks! "Thetelephone pole stands out," Albert says. Albert himself responded tosomeone's offer to create a free demo CD of anyone's music.

A quick look at the online listing of Portland Freecycle e-mailsreveals an amazing array of items offered and accepted in the pastfew weeks. There were large and small appliances, includingdishwashers and refrigerators and stoves. There were Bose speakers, asatellite dish, and all manner of computers and printers andscanners. But you've got to wonder who needed large quantitiesof "1970s paneling" or "clean steel 55 gallon drums."

Gone, too, are "Lyndon Johnson's head" (made of chicken wire andpapier-mache), 200 cubic yards of "clean dirt" and "large amounts ofvegetable oil." Someone offering a large pink bathtub noted: "wouldmake good horse water trough."

Folks have picked up free bags of concrete, a broken violin, an appletree, old wooden windows, a pilot's headset, nine Playtex sippy cups,a reptile tank, 22 videotapes suitable for toddlers, sheets ofPlexiglas, multiple water dispensers for rodents, a Wurlitzer organ,50-year-old rose bushes, a box of linoleum tile, black walnuts and awooden boat.

There are still unfulfilled requests for lace-up granny boots andorange warning cones. And someone has asked repeatedly for leatherchaps.

"I don't know if he got them yet," says Albert's co-moderator,Portlander Steve Udycz. "I didn't want to get involved."

Steve, a friend of Albert's, signed up to help with the list whenAlbert began to feel overwhelmed by the size of the group.

But whereas Albert envisions freecycling as an Earth-changingenterprise leading to a gifting economy, Steve is a banker and an MBAcandidate, a fan of the capitalist system who thinks freecycling is agreat supplement to our economy. "I'm trying to save landfills here,"he says. "I've seen people throw away stuff I knew other peoplewanted. But by the time I got the item to the person who wanted it,they'd already gone out and bought what they wanted."

Not only that, Steve likes the idea that the list is helping peoplein need. "We get people who post things like, 'My husband lost hisjob six months ago, and we're moving to a smaller house. We need helpand boxes.' And they got them. It's amazing."

When a college student said he was low on funds and needed fooditems, other Portland Freecycle members replied with lists of socialservice agencies and churches that offered free meals.

Albert remembers a woman who sent thanks for a scanner she receivedvia the list. "She wrote, 'My long-lost sister has just re-found ourfamily and now I'm able to send her pictures and share who her familyis.' This is really making a difference for some people."

Both Steve and Albert are convinced freecycling will continue to growall over the world, but especially in the Northwest. "We're veryenvironmentally conscious," Steve says. "And what's that saying? 'Oneman's junk is another man's treasure.' We're proving it's very true."

Albert was struck recently when someone on the list wrote, "Once youhave a successful freecycle . . ." "I'd never seen theword 'freecycle' used as a noun before," Albert says. "I think thisis having an impact. Maybe we'll even get into the dictionary." Tojoin the freecycling movement, go to www.freecycle.org and click onthe appropriate geographical area.

Margie Boule: 503-221-8450; marboule@aol.com

Hi, there's a new article on this on salon.com

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/11/25/freecycle/index.html

Also, we're up to 2,022 freecyclers in Portland and the world freecycle population just topped 10,000 freecyclers yesterday. Also, there are 96 freecycle groups worldwide.

Thanks for freecycling.

Join a freecycle group at www.freecycle.org or start your own if there isn't one in your town. Albert, Modulator, Freecycle Portland

On the last day of the year of 2003

Number of cities freecycling: 159Number of people freecycling: 16,966

Go Eagles!

It's May 21st and we're up to 115,000 members and 650+ cities and towns around the world. So, how do you like that!!!

The article in People Magazine this month helped :)

AlbertFreecycle Portland!

We're up to 600,000 members worldwide in about a year. 1,500 cities :) Working on getting on our own servers now and raising some capital for expansion plans. Guess the gifting economy is the wave of the future.

Albert