Freecycle

i think the nobel peace prize committee should seriously consider awarding the 2010 prize to the developers of freecycle.  well, ok, this might be a bit of a stretch, but freecycle is a pretty darn amazing piece of social architecture, you've got to admit that.  where else can a person who really needs something go and find it for free - request it even, from fellow citizens who might have such an item and no longer need it.  and where can those of us with too much stuff (i.e. most of us) find a good, loving home for those dear items that we don't really use but hate to throw away?  in the past few months, my family has given away a sewing machine, a backpack, a stroller and a set of four wheels with snow tires - and i have to say that each time, i felt really great to be passing my stuff on to someone who really wanted or needed it - so much better than i would have felt about receiving money from selling those things and so grateful to not be filling up the landfill with perfectly useful items. i have to say that i think my small amount of freecycle "gifting" has also increased my feeling of a sense of community and care for others - why, you say? well, because it has given me the opportunity to connect with a few extra people with whom i probably would never have connected otherwise and to get to know just a tiny bit about who they are and what their lives are like.  even though the contact made between gifter/giftee is just a moment in time, it is a strangely intimate connection, in that a need was openly expressed by one party to another - i find that the expression of need (well, really asking for help in any form) is such a rare thing among my friends and family - almost as if we are all afraid to in-debt ourselves to one another, whether for lack of time or geographic closeness or other unknown reasons - yet the relative anonymity of the internet seems to remove whatever inhibition we had about expressing needs and allow us to open up to perfect strangers to offer what we no longer need and ask for what we do need.  who knows, maybe with enough freecycling, we'll all become more open and honest with each other about our needs - well, ok, maybe not, but we can hope...and support freecycle along the way.