Why freecycle? Five benefits of freecycling and freegling

If it’s your first time on Trash Nothing, you’ll be amazed at the free stuff that our community is reusing.

Every year, our community shares hundreds of thousands of pre-loved items.

From students kitting out their new accommodation to families with children decluttering their houses, thousands of people benefit from Trash Nothing every year.

This sharing is often referred to as freecycling (or freegling). The items given away can range from unwanted furniture to empty jam jars, surfboards, and baby clothes.

You name it, someone will be giving it away, and you can take it for free. That’s freecycling!

Read on to discover more about the benefits of freecycling and freegling.

Save Money

The biggest benefit of freecycling is, of course, saving money. Our community members save hundreds of pounds each year using the site.

Need a new wardrobe? Search our site to see if anyone has one to offer. If not, simply put up a “wanted” ad and see what gets offered.

We don’t charge any fees for giving away items or posting wanted ads; everything is entirely free.

For example, if you’re moving into a new flat, you could potentially get all your new furniture from our site, saving you hundreds of pounds.

No need to trouble your bank account; use a Trash Nothing account instead.

One of our community members Keeng T., recently posted, “Trash nothing helped me build my room. Though I live in a shared space, I can boldly say I got virtually everything I use right now from here. Thanks to those who innovated this app. I really appreciate Trash Nothing.”

Save the planet

Freecycling (or freegling) is a great way to help improve your local environment.

Literally millions of perfectly usable items are thrown out every year. These often end up in landfill or worst still get incinerated.

There are all kinds of harmful impacts associated with this type of waste disposal from reduced air quality and increased greenhouse gas emissions to toxic runoff and water contamination.

The Trash Nothing community is doing its bit to help reduce these impacts. Every item given away is one less that goes into a landfill (or worse).

Community member Dave C. gives a great example:

“It’s a great site for reducing landfill. Last year I found myself in the position of offering to clear my elderly neighbour's garage when he went into care. It was chock full of old tools, appliances, home and garden furniture, hobby stuff, you name it….

Over a few months I completely emptied the garage and in the process met some lovely people. A lady who picked up a lot of small items and appliances for her nieces first flat and who brought me a cake for my neighbour.

A chap Billy who came and took old 35 mm projector stuff so he and his brother could watch old family films, another gent who took all the old tools to refurb and reuse, the list goes on, even an ancient pair of Hunter welly boots found a home as flower pots.

Effectively, a whole skip's worth of items were taken and made use of…”

“I give and I take and they both feel just as good!” –Tom D.

Save space

Many of our community members use Trash Nothing to declutter and create some space. That’s space in their homes and some head space.

We all know that unwanted items tend to accumulate over time. Old kids' toys they never play with, old chairs in the shed, books you’ll never read again, the list is seemingly endless.

But the good news is that someone else is likely to want it. Freecycling is a great way to pass on things you don’t want any more, freeing up much needed space in your home.

There’s also a great knock on benefit of creating some head space. Experts agree that decluttering your house is great for your mental health.

Community member Majablo123 gave this great account of how her family created space in their home,

“My husband has held onto items we don’t use for years and years because they came from his parents or uncles. They have sentimental value to him and he couldn’t bear to send them to a dump.

But this site allows us to give them away to someone we know WANTS the item and may love it like he does. So he can finally feel ok about letting them go. For this reason I love this site!

My husband is so gratified… that he has a way better attitude as we continue to purge our garage of years of accumulated stuff. Yippee!!!”

Save on stress.

Wandering around department stores or out-of-town big box retailers can be really stressful, as can spending hundreds of pounds on home improvements or new furniture when money is tight.

Freecycling can help to reduce this stress by offering a simple solution to both issues. Free items that you can quickly collect from your local area.

“My daughter and her boyfriend are both studying at university and had a horrid courtyard to the place they're renting and no money to make it nice. [We found] old paint to tart it up, and also I got chairs, a fire pit and some ladders (next doors cat comes to visit them but is too old to jump down off the fence so the ladders are for her, we painted them too)” –Veronica B.

Get the community Spirit

Another great benefit of freecycling is the community spirit.

There’s a feeling of belonging and connection as people share items in their local area.

Our members really get a buzz out of giving and receiving free stuff, meeting new people and knowing they’ve been helpful.

Community member Brittany C. sums this up beautifully in a recent post on the site,

“The members of TrashNothing.com are truly genuine and compassionate individuals who come together to create incredible small communities.

Their generosity comes from the heart, always willing to help others in need without expecting anything in return.

It’s inspiring to see people supporting one another, whether by giving away items they no longer need or by lending a helping hand in other ways.

This platform has fostered a sense of connection and goodwill that is rare to find.”

“I so love this community. It is absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much to all the people that participate.” –Hazel R.