Swap shop

It's the ultimate in Tom-and-Barbara thriftiness, but Freecycle is also a great way to get involved in your community. Ros Anderson talks to three aficionados
Susanna Clarke
Susanna Clarke. Photograph: David Yeo

Carol Hutton, Aberdeenshire

Living in a rural area, we even get pigs and sheep advertised. I have two live Freecycle peacocks - I picked them up in my trailer, along with a cabinet and a double bed.

I've been Freecycling for the better part of 30 years without having a name for it. I used to haul things out of bins. When I came from Canada in 1999, I had virtually nothing. I existed on furniture donations from friends.

It pains me to buy anything new. My parents were raised during the depression and gave us the mantra, "Thrift, thrift, thrift". If it's usable, use it. If it's fixable, fix it. If you can't, use it for something else.

A friend had a cottage with nothing in it except a cooker and a horrible mattress. I spent a week on Freecycle and organised a road trip to pick up everything. We got a fridge, a washing machine, a freezer, a bed, a sofa... By evening she had a full house.

I have to control myself. I have a garage full. People tend to give me stuff to find a home for. There's always two or three televisions tucked under the table.

I set up my Freecycle group in Aberdeen West. If you can find 10 people who want to participate, it'll take off. We have almost 1,500 members now. It's taken over my life.

No one is above Freecycling. The laird of the estate, his television blew up and I was able to get him a new one through Freecycle. In return he gave away a Bosch double oven. A local family cooked their Christmas dinner in that.

Susanna Clarke, Leighton Buzzard

In London we used to "doorstep recycle": put out a piece of furniture and it would vanish within half an hour. But that's not so common outside London. When we moved to a bigger family home in a smaller town, we had perfectly good carpets we wanted to get rid of. I'd heard of Freecycle, so I advertised them there and within days someone had collected them. What else would you do with an old carpet? Throw it out.

It's really good for things that are a bit random: I've seen soil and old newspapers on offer. Some people want to get rid of grass cuttings for compost heaps, or shredded cardboard for pet bedding.

You find your local group on the website, and post offers of stuff to give away or make requests. You don't bid, you just put in a friendly request for an item and hope you get it. It's usually up to you to collect it.

With the traditional English reserve, people would feel reticent about knocking on your door and asking for free chairs, but with Freecycle there is that forum for it.

I've heard from people afterwards. We had paint and a chandelier that went to a lady who'd moved into a council flat. She later emailed to say it had made a real difference to her.

It is more effort than flinging it in the bin, but I like the fact I've saved something from being thrown out.

Joanna Mackintosh, Mold, Flintshire

I'm not one who has to have brand spanking new of everything. Old furniture has a lot of life left in it - there's no reason something has to be scrapped because someone's taste has changed.

When we were building the extension, our builder's lad was horrified that we were going to fit out these nice new rooms with secondhand stuff. But we'd spent most of our money doing the extension, so we figured why not?

I'm not that green, but I do like the fact that Freecycle stops stuff going to landfill. There's a quarry at the top of our lane, and the owners are trying to turn it into a landfill site, so it's a sensitive subject for us.

You have to trust people to describe items properly, because they don't always put photographs on. Most groups have a chat site where you can ask if anyone knows a good plumber, say. People are generally very honest.

It is addictive. I'm more selective now, but I'm a natural hoarder, so it's good you can give things away, too.