Freecycle it.

Nothing is better than free, except maybe, free with no strings attached. Many, many free things are offered to you except you have to give something back, especially on the net. Who remembers the free ipod give away.

I came across freecycle on the net the other day, and took a look. It is actually quite an innovative system where it uses the internet infrastructure to spread the word around, sort of like a community bulletin board.

freecycle would not really work unless there is a local chapter in your area, so I searched for one in my area. Not only have I found one, but two. There is one for Frankston, which is a really localise version of it, but there is also one for Melbourne. A list of other freecycle chapters are also shown on the Australian site.

Interestingly, the Melbourne chapter is the second largest chapter outside of the North America. Only London is bigger.

The one golden rule for freecyclers is that "We don't allow any trades, and no money can change hands".

One good tip is that freecycle is a a good source of free household items for when you first moved out of home. For the young ones who have just left home to begin their big life adventure, freecycle is a great source for things like cutlery, pre-loved sofa, kitchen tables and clothes.