Start of a Local Freecycle?

Today a neighbour dropped by and said another neighbour has some tiny cabinets and such to give away (within a week) or chop up and burn!

Of course I had to check it all out first!





Pretty!! :)

Apparently he dismantled the big things like big wardrobe (the particle board panels can be re-used for other stuff) and bed (some elements got reused or taken away before, he didn't know it could be Freecycled or given away & come handy to others!)
He said he 'had no use' for the pretty bedside 3-drawer cabinets and such!

(I'm not sure if I have any use for them either, prefer shelves, but they're too pretty - and probably too toxic - to burn!)

So I may take them for now & perhaps freecycle later.
Not sure if we can use up the bed boards? (I have two beds & none of them is 'right'! :) So too bad it got dismantled!)
Might use some shelves for the ex-fridge-cabinet (that now has no shelves), and he said he might use up some himself.

Not sure what to do re: remaining bed boards, I'm sad that he would just burn them, don't really know what to use them for? Any ideas?

I took digital pictures & wrote down measures. Ideally, we'd have several volunteers that could do that and put stuff in a local database and/or on internet etc - any other ways how to establish a good local Freecycle?

Sub-Mayor Is Slightly Interested! :)

So yesterday I managed to grab the sub-mayor by the button. So to speak.

Actually, he was fixing a garden gnome, or something like that.

I was tired & hungry, but thought, 'What the heck?' How often do you get a sub-mayor basically on his knees before you?;) So I inspected the gnome & then ASKED! :)

It seems there *IS* political will for a reuse station in our little town, and maybe for making people more aware how to recycle & minimize trash too!! :)

Will it be a simple reuse station like already existing in Slovenia? (Please take a look & comment - the yellow board on the wall announces a reuse station corner - simply some shelves by the wall.. easy to make & very doable.. I was told that mostly they have furniture & not electronic stuff.. It looks a bit, hmm.. uninspiring, though..)

With other options, finding financing (& a space for a mini-store!) might be a challenge.. Two more superstores have expressed interest to come to our little town, sigh!! (& those are a hefty competition for council land!)
'Tourists & visitors come to our beautiful town to see nature, not supermarkets!!' I pointed out, & sub-mayor agreed, & said how supermarkets & building companies also bring jobs & eg sponsored playground (mostly plastic! sigh!) & some money.. (& more trash, I thought..)

I'm welcome to see the sub-mayor again about this (he did have to repair the gnome!) & hopefully we'll talk more with other parties involved in this too..

Ideally it would be a 'real' small shop like these in the USA offering awesome stuff cheaply - just furniture, sins, doors, garden ornaments etc... crockery, art supplies, old candles.. It's 'creative reuse', not just a thrift store..!! :)

Or something like what they have in Nova Scotia, Canada: a longer film on waste management shows a VERY cute store with furniture & other stuff for house renovation (after 19:10) selling bathroom articles, some things like old doors are creatively re-styled into other furniture like kitchen cabinets etc..

One of my favorite ones was this shop in Burlington, Vermont, USA (film also available with more videos about communities worldwide going zero waste on AmericanHealthStudies.org - Prof. Paul Connet's website it seems)
Recycle North is a non-profit that takes even old PCs & fridges, repairs them if necessary, & sells again for a small price (tax-deducted!), low-income families get coupons to get stuff for free..

At the same time it's a job training center for people who'd find it difficult to get a job otherwise.. Now if we could just figure out a way to fund something like this?!! :)
/Both neighbour & I sought for an old computer mouse one can't get anywhere else.. :)/

Apparently The RecycleNorth main shop is being renovated, a ReStore selling artsy crafts is still working! (now that sounds lovely too! :)

Our sub-mayor actually thought a reuse station was quite a nifty idea, & now I have both the local charity, the local waste company & a country-wide electronic-waste collecting company slightly interested. :)

Yes, I made some phone calls this week!! :)

If only one could get some easily available EU or country-wide resources..? hmm?
/More phone-calls & e-mails to write next week!/

Apparently the computers on grass (under trees) were due to a change in system of collecting the old computers & TVs etc.
I agree that the old system wasn't good - old TVs were shoved into big containers & apparently a lot of them broke.. so the electronic-waste collecting company now switched to a different system, but apparently was overflown with demand & they didn't have enough of new-style collecting plateaus, so...?

They promised to bring the plateaus this week, we'll see if that's true..

I also talked to a wonderful friend of mine who's now almost-married off to another town & has a big chunk of potential eco-farm (belonging to her new hubby-to-be relatives!) to work on with her man! She gave me lots of useful ideas & recipes! & even some names of eco-aware people in our hometown to contact next! (& I did offer my services!:)

Interesting, how great minds think alike, the synchronicity of it all.. Mrs Green & her guest blogger Sophie blogged about 'non-monetary' work, land & crop exchange this week.. & JustGai was Grow Zoned!
I was thinking lately too, how land & food can be exchanged with no monetary investment!! We got some sausages & some wood from our relatives just cause Dad helped at their farm! & this friend got wonderful workable rested land to use & work on for free! (from her man's relatives!)
Mum & I planted beans & pumpkins at Uncle's farm (even the ones with non-peel seeds!) 'Free food' again! :)

Oh, & I quarrelled with our neighbour on whether tetrapaks can or cannot be recycled!
Overall, quite a productive day & week! :)

Sub-mayor seemed slightly interested on how we managed to reduce our waste after zero waste week too!! /& glanced uneasily at his big bag of waste!;)/

Do you have a reuse station in your town? What is it like? What do they have there? Just furniture or also other stuff like clothes or electronic gear? How has it been financed & set up? Just curious!! Do tell!!

What do you think about the different options for reuse stations presented here?