One of the best ideas ever has turned 4 right now. As I don't throw away things that are still usable, and have lived in the same house for nearly 12 years with a growing family, you can imagine that the house is filled to the roof with random STUFF, not good enough to bother selling, but too good to go to landfill.

This is where Freecycle comes in. I post a message, and within a couple of days somebody turns up with their car and collects the item ... magic ! Within the last few months I have "freecycled" (is this already a verb ?) a 14-year-old PC, a bed, a couple of children's bicycles, a couple of pushchairs, lots of other kiddie stuff ... and I'm only beginning !

Anyhow, here's the birthday message from the founding genius:

------------------------------------

From: Deron Beal (Freecycle Founder)

Hey all,

Happy 4th Birthday to us! The first email announcing the founding of
The Freecycle Network was sent out on May First, 2003. Kudos to our
over 3.5 million members and to each of you who represent about 10,000
volunteers globally.

Deron

---------------------------------

Check Yahoo! Groups whether there is a Freecycle network in your area. (The one in Oxford is incredibly busy -- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OxfordFreecycle/ )