Got a garage full of stuff you don’t need? Try posting it on Freecycle. No Freecycle group in your area? Start your own.
A new deal has some Freecyclers down in the dumps.
This has been the happy mantra of Freecyclers since the grassroots online exchange started up in 2003. More than a million people all over the world have become members, via some 2,600 local groups. Thousands of tons of useful goods have been kept out of the garbage. The media has been charmed.
But behind the scenes at the Freecycle Network, as it’s formally known, the honeymoon may be over. Founder and executive director Deron Beal recently accepted the network’s first corporate support, in the form of a $130,000 sponsorship from the largest garbage company in the U.S., Waste Management, Inc. While some say the move is necessary for success, others are crying “hypocrisy” and leaving by the score. Meanwhile, moderators of local Freecycle groups, which have long operated independently, are bridling at a move toward centralization. Has Freecycle run its course?
First, the funding: Beal says WM came to him with the sponsorship pr... Read more
