The Albany OZ Freecycle™ Visitors' Information Centre
Our Mission....
We are a nonprofit, volunteer run organisation, part of the world wide Freecycle™ Network.
Our goals are both environmental and social.
Environmental:
We reduce the amount of product going to landfil.
We reduce the draw on the Earth's precious resources.
We reduce pollution by reducing the need for new manufactured products.
Social:
We develop a culture of giving freely to each other.
We develop a caring, sharing community.
We connect people.
You may think that anything we achieve in Albany/Denmark/Mt Barker is of little significance globally, and you are right! But consider there are thousands of Freecycle groups world wide with millions, (yes millions), of members. Collectively we make a difference.
Did you know that in America alone it has been calculated the amount of waste aluminium going to landfill in a three month period is sufficient to rebuilt the entire US commercial air fleet? Working to reduce that sort of waste has got to be good!
Note that all pages of this site are copyright and that Freecycle is a registered trademark. Refer to our Copyright page for details.
How does it work and what does it cost?
We'll deal with the second part of the question first because it is a part of the good news...
IT WON'T COST YOU A CENT!
The organisation is run entirely by volunteers, (and they're not somewhere on the other side of the world, they are right here in Albany, Denmark and Mt Barker!) It's a free website, and all transactions are free too, so there are no costs and no charges!
Members can post a message on the website which only other members can see. (Visitors can only access the home page.)
An OFFER post:
You have something gathering dust that you no longer use, but haven't thrown away yet as it still works. You place an 'OFFER:' message on the website. Other members receive an emailed notification of your message, or they read it on the site, (they choose which), and if they would like to have the item they email you through the website. You arrange a pickup time and place and they call around and pick it up. The item must be free with no strings attached. Examples of recent posts include TVs, prams, goldfish, dogs, sheep, (special conditions apply for offering pets), baby clothing, computer parts and accessories, furniture, animal manure, washing machines. Well the list goes on, and on; you get the idea.
A WANTED post:
You want a particular item and think perhaps a member has one they don't need. You post a 'WANTED:' message on the website. Hopefully someone sees it and says, "Hey! I've got one of those in the shed/wardrobe/loft." They contact you and you agree to a pickup time and place. Our most unusual WANTED: post so far has probably been the one asking for a hollow log! (It was to make a nesting place for a galah... and she got one!)
A TAKEN or RECEIVED post:
When an OFFER has been given away the offerer posts a 'TAKEN:' message so the members know it is no longer available. Similarly, when a wanted post is fulfilled the advertiser posts a 'RECEIVED:' post.
Apart from ADMIN notifications by the Moderators, no other message types are allowed. This is not a general chat site and members strictly adhere to this rule. (But we do have a "Café" where our members chill out. See the "Our Café" page.)
Group Statistics.
July 2008:
Total Membership:
341
New members this month:
8
Total posts this month:
329
OFFER posts this month:
121
WANTED posts this month:
100
Successfully concluded:
OFFERS: 57%
WANTEDS: 24%
Where can I get more information?
Well firstly by looking through the other pages here. There is a menu down the left side of this page; click on those that interest you.
You can also go to the main Freecycle site in America. This will give you a general rundown on how we operate, and it also lists all groups by country and then town. Each has links for viewing the site and for joining and shows the number of members. If you are not from our general area a visit here will point you to your nearest group. If there is none nearby and you are really keen it will also help you to set up a group in your town!
A link to the main Freecycle site is below.
How do I join?
On the Albany OZ Freecycle website. There is a link below. It is a Yahoo site so you need to be signed up to Yahoo, (that is free too). If you are already a Yahoo member it is super quick and easy to do. If you are not yet a Yahoo member it leads you through the join-up procedure, which is pretty quick too.
A tip... when you join up you will be issued a Yahoo.com email address. You can accept this as your default address for use on our site or you can set an email address you already have as your default for our site. If you leave the Yahoo address as your default you will need to go there regularly to check for mail. If you don't we can't communicate with you. Unless you have a reason for not doing so we would recommend you set your normal email address as your default. That way you don't have to check two places for mail. Also, we have found that Yahoo, and also Hotmail, email addresses are occasionally identified as spam and blocked by some over enthusiastic spam filters. This isn't often a problem, but it can be for some people.
Below you will find the link to our website. (Note you will only be able to access the home page until you are a member.) Before clicking the "Join this group" button be sure to read the paragraphs printed in red.
© 2003, The Freecycle Network™ (http://www.Freecycl
