Is there a freecycle list for the area already or any interest in one if there isn't?

Christina

I know that this is a dumb question, but what is freecycle?

Not dumb at all. I had never heard of freecycle until a year ago. The way it works here is, a Yahoo! groups list is created exclusively for trading items that you don't want any longer. The idea is to keep perfectly good things out of our landfills and work cooperatively with others to obtain items that you need at no cost. Check it out at www.freecycle.org I think it would be a great thing for an area where people are moving in and out all the time and need to collect inexpensive (in this case, free) household goods when they arrive and then need a convenient way to dispose of them on their way out. Whenever you have something you don't want or need anymore, you post an "Offer" message on the list and people will contact you (privately) if they want it. Conversely, if you see something you want that someone else has posted as an offer, contact that person and let them know. Usually the receiver makes the pickup. Once or twice a week you are allowed to post a "Wanted", which is where you ask the list members for a specific item that you need. In my year on the list here in VA, I've gotten a free microwave, toaster oven, german language books and CDs, a mountain bike, dozens of cardboard boxes and packing materials for moving, tons of clothing (some of it with the tags still on), unopened makeup, jewelry, various books and movies and DVDs, and I don't remember what all else. I've given away a dining room table, kitchenware, clothing, toys and games, and plenty more I can't think of right off hand. You see anything and everything changing hands on these lists, from pets to vehicles. I'm gonna miss it!

Christina

I've only found one for the Seoul area but it's not active at all. But, I haven't looked to see if one has been created in a long time. There might be one now.

So this is just like Craigslist.org then. I heard that a guy kept trading and trading and ended up trading stuff all the way up to a house.

They have some other pretty good trades and "looking for" links for everything.

I think on craigslist you can sell things where on Freecycle everything has to be free.

Everything on Freecycle must be offered for free, and you don't have to have something to trade to take something.

I'll bet the foreign schoolteachers would like to do that, as they change jobs and move around a lot. Maybe they already do, but I haven't seen the like on their blogs... Maybe we could work with them- you know in (downtown) Korea you legally have to pay for a tag to put on large items before you put them out in the street.
P.S. I just heard on the radio that Ebay has started a trading site along these same lines this week!

I am currently a member of Freecycle Phoenix. I agree that is would be a GREAT thing to get started at Osan. I will be there in October and would join!