January 2013 Press Release

You may have seen and heard us recently in the Daily Mail and on Radio 2 with Jeremy Vine. So - ever wondered what to do with all that stuff you don’t want anymore? Wonder no more!

There’s no need to throw away unwanted Christmas presents or household clutter. It’s easy to give away goods to locals who can make use of them. Freegle allows members to post pictures and descriptions of anything (legal) they want to give away and puts them in touch with people locally who may want it.

It’s like online dating for stuff. Got an unloved thingamyjig, find someone who will love that gizmo or whatchamacallit. Freegle has over 1.4million members across the UK in 370 locations doing just that.

Cat Fletcher, one of the charity's national representatives, said: "If you can't use something there's bound to be someone in your area who can. We provide an easy to use platform to connect up people and things. Everything is free and all our groups are looked after by local volunteers.”

"People even want broken things. There are lots of community groups and other people who are really happy to get a broken toaster or worn out arm chair because they like repairing things or want to teach others those skills. There's a real groundswell of people in all communities who want to fix things."

Goods that are beyond their original purpose can also be turned into something new, this is called upcycling. For example, old washing machine drums can make attractive lamps and table bases. Old house windows can make great greenhouses for the garden. Extending the life of goods is really important. Reuse is more environmentally friendly than recycling which breaks material down into elements and uses masses of energy and transport to do so. 83% of sofas discarded at UK “tips” are reusable. Freegle provides a way to avoid this kind of shocking waste and facilitates the free reuse of about 500 tonnes of goods every month.

She said: "Western society has 12 per cent of the world's population but consumes 60 per cent of its resources. Research by Yale says we're going to run out of raw materials within 50 to 60 years if we carry on at the current level of consumption." Reusing and sharing what we already have across communities also enables the economically challenged to have goods that would otherwise be unobtainable but are essential to maintaining a decent standard of living. Charities, families, students, businesses, schools and all types of activity and community groups are all welcome to join their local Freegle group and start exchanging goods amongst themselves.

It’s a great time of year to start freegling, January is a time when people often have a clear out or are experiencing financial hardship. Sharing stuff on Freegle - instead of putting it in a rubbish sack or popping to the tip or relegating it to the attic - is beneficial to people, pocket and planet.

Don’t throw it away. Give it away!

Visit www.ilovefreegle.org and enter your postcode to find a Freegle group in your area.

https://www.facebook.com/Freegle
https://twitter.com/thisisfreegle

All media enquiries: Cat Fletcher media@ilovefreegle.org 07962449573
General enquiries: info@ilovefreegle.org

Freegle logos to download: http://wiki.ilovefreegle.org/Logos
Local Freegle group: http://freegle.in/YOURGROUPNAME
Local Volunteers: GROUPEMAIL@address.co.uk

Recent media links: 1st January Daily Mail article: http://goo.gl/Q1bAS - this story was the most read story on Mail Online website on January 2nd.
2nd January Jeremy Vine Show, BBC Radio 2: http://goo.gl/fd0EW (starts 30:30 and ends at 40:40 only listenable until 9th January) 6.76 million listeners
http://goo.gl/b1jcG (Jeremy Vine BBCradio2 gallery of photos)

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