Trash or Treasure? You Decide

By: Steve Nicoles, Reporter

Tools

By Steve Nicoles

Story Created: Sep 3, 2007 at 4:14 PM CST

Story Updated: Jul 30, 2008 at 1:25 PM CST

KALONA - Old sweaters or possibly a light fixture for a bathroom, you can find anything you want online and help save the environment. You have probably heard the phrase, 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.' That has never been more true than it is today. There is an online community where you can find anyone to grab hold of your garbage.

Sara O’Donnell of Kalona was surfing the Iowa City freecycle website. She said, “Here's someone wants railroad ties and tomato cages."

When you surf Iowa City Freecycle on Yahoo you never know what you are going to find, but odds are you are going to find something of O'Donnell's. She said, “It's nice to know i can post for 30 different things and find homes all in one day."

Freecycle groups have four-million members worldwide. Three thousand are in the greater Iowa City area. They post their rubbish and wait for someone else to see riches. O’Donnell said, “I think it's a neat idea to find homes for things i don't want anymore."

Finding homes for junk can be fun, but freecycle started as a way to keep the 'fill' out of landfills. Co-Owner of Iowa City Freecycle Kimberli Maloy said, “The landfill in Cedar Rapids, for instance, was so full they had to find another location. It just keeps piling up and piling up and a lot of those things don't decompose."

Freecycle members will keep anything and everything out of the landfill. Toys are really big. You can also find shoes and even coupons. Maloy said, “There was one lady that asked for twist ties, the little twist ties for baggies."

Freecycle started in Arizona in 2004. But thanks to the Internet, members like O’Donnell are donating items. Some are more random than others. And in the process they are helping the environment.

The basic rule to freecycle communities is that no money ever exchanges hands.

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