How should I feel about freecycle?

May 9, 2008 9:34 AM

I recently came across freecycle.org and now it seems to be popping up everywhere I look. Among what I'm finding are some controversies about the founder taking corporate money and being a little too fussy about who uses the name. Some people think this is against the spirit of the endeavor.

These issues don't concern me greatly, I'll probably sign up anyway, but I was curious what the hive thinks about them. I was also thinking of signing up at freesharing.org. Are there any other great sharing sites out there?

posted by mockdeep to society & culture (8 comments total)

If the founder owns the copyright to the name, it belongs to him, and he can do as he pleases with it. I might not agree with what he does with it, but it still belongs to him, and as such, I have no say in the matter.
posted by Solomon at 9:45 AM on May 9, 2008

Here's the thing about all that crap related to the founder -- it will have pretty much nothing to do with what you do on your local site. Your community is the people around you that you trade things with, not some guy you'll never meet. If you're comfortable with those people, why worry about what Deron Beal is doing? I'm sure Deron appreciates that whole apathetic attitude, but I just can't bring myself to care. I'm not giving him any of my money that he's misusing. If he wants to misrepresent himself to Waste Management for his paycheque, I don't care.

That said, the individual freecycle lists can have their own politics, infighting and problems. There are often similar lists in major cities which may have more or less or similar problems if you'd really rather avoid the freecycle specific moral issues.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:00 AM on May 9, 2008

Our local chapter of freecycle changed its name to fullcircles and there was some commotion on the list but we still do the same things we used to. I can't get too upset about it really. I think fullcircles is a canadian org. at this time though, so not much help to you if you're in the states.
posted by glip at 10:07 AM on May 9, 2008

I use freecycle all the time, and it works fine. I had no idea that there was anything funky going on with the name or the founder. As jacquilynne says, it has no effect on what happens in the local group.
posted by ErWenn at 10:11 AM on May 9, 2008

What jacquilynne & ErWenn said. The website / email list are just local people looking to give stuff away, and you giving things away or accepting things has little to do with the founder and intellectual property. I've had good experiences with the group.
posted by salvia at 10:15 AM on May 9, 2008

I've done freecycling and its always worked out. I got a couple good things for free - an iron, some books - and gave away stuff I didn't need any more - some books, some computer parts.

I only dealt with people locally. I didn't know there was a controversy, and I don't care, because all it cost me was a tiny extra bit of gas for the pickup, and a bit of time, neither of which goes to the guy with the name.
posted by sandraregina at 10:40 AM on May 9, 2008

nthing above sentiments--I've been an active member of our local group for years, and haven't seen any corporate leeching. I've gotten and given some amazing stuff, from a Charlie the Tuna raft to a dishwasher.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:46 PM on May 9, 2008

If it works for you, who cares what some guy does with the name?

Same thing with the Curves guy and the Dominoes guy- they sell a product that people seem to like. What they do with their income isn't anyones business but theirs.

I was on the Chicago freecycle list for a while, but found it to be absolutely soul-crushing. The people who simply wanted to trade junk(*) were drowned out by the selfish and greedy freeloaders. I saw one too many "hey, thanks for the free toaster- when can you deliver it?" as well as "looking for free Cubs playoff tickets" and "free used water heater if you come and install my new one" style comment and chose to cut bait.


(*) Junk in the "one-person's-junk-is-another-person's-treasure" meaning, of course.
posted by gjc at 11:20 AM on May 10, 2008