The Freecycle Network began as a pretty simple idea: Folks could post lists on the Web of things they no longer want — but don't want to merely throw away. Now the freecycle.org network has spread internationally. NPR's Ted Robbins introduces us to the man who knew that one person's trash was someone else's treasure.
Listen to the programme on the NPR website
This story is about the 1_____________ Internet service which helps you declutter your garage.
Deron Beal takes pride in how he got most of the stuff in the office - a computer, two desks, bookshelves and 2_____________________. Almost everything 3_________ his chair is 4_________. "And that's pretty cool 5______________".
Deron Beal's chair is taller than usual because of his 6____________ body. He spends his working time 7_____________ freecycle.org, a website to give away or request for free what you want.
It began when Beal e-mailed friends offering a bed that he didn't want and didn't want to send to the 8____________. Today, Freecyle has many members in 70 countries, all 9___________ stuff.
Since we're all going to 10__________ , you don't want to bequeath 11_________ full of junk to your descendants. Beal even has a 12_____________ from his wife, Jennifer. No more 13___________ until he gives away what he already has.
The biggest category of 14_________________ is 15________________ things to avoid having to 16____________ them somewhere. A case in point is an old piano. On a warm summer evening, Shawn Kramer and Jay Langdon push a 17___________, 100-year-old 18____________ into a trailer 19___________ to Langdon's 20___________ truck. Sandy and Scott Lockerby are giving the piano away although they would have liked to have it 21___________. On the other hand, Kramer couldn't afford to keep renting. So the family will make a project out of restoring the 22_____________ playable instrument.
Kramer 23___________ the piano's history will become a little richer as it will be on 24____________.
Value is in the eye of the 25________________. A teacher planning a class project once asked for 26_____________. Deron Beal says she got 27______________. Despite its apparent 28______________, Freecycle is not without 29_____________ .
Critics say Freecycle is a generic and 30______________ term.
KEY
1. ultimate /ˈʌltɪmət/ most extreme; best, worst, greatest, most important, etc. E.g. This race will be the ultimate test of your skill. Silk sheets are the ultimate luxury. Nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent.
2. filing cabinets
filing cabinet: a piece of office furniture with deep drawers for storing files.
3. aside from: apart from. E.g. Aside from a few scratches, I'm OK.
4. reuse: the action of using something again. E.g. It had been cleaned ready for reuse.
5. in my book used when you are giving your opinion. E.g. That's cheating in my book
6. lanky 6'4"
lanky: having long thin arms and legs and moving in an awkward way. E.g. a tall, lanky teenager.
7. running
8. landfill
9. shuffling
shuffle: move (people or things) around so as to occupy different positions or to be in a different order. E.g. my father shuffled his money around various building societies. She shuffled her papers into a neat pile. I shuffled the documents on my desk.
10. pass away
11. a shed
12. mandate
13. acquiring
14. giveaway
15. inconvenient
16. lug: to carry or drag something heavy with a lot of effort. E.g. I had to lug my bags up to the fourth floor.
17. battered: old, used a lot, and not in very good condition. E.g. a battered old car.
18. upright
upright (also upright piano): a piano in which the strings are vertical. E.g. a first-class upright that would satisfy an amateur pianist.
19. hitched
hitch something (to something) to fix something to something else with a rope, a hook, etc. Sp. enganchar. E.g. She hitched the pony to the gate.
20. pickup
pickup (truck): a vehicle with low sides and no roof at the back used, for example, by farmers.
21. restored
22. barely
23. figures
24. NPR
25. beholder
beauty is in the eye of the beholder: (saying) people all have different ideas about what is beautiful.
26. dryer lint is lint generated by the drying of clothes in a clothes dryer; it typically accumulates on a dryer screen.
dryer: a machine for drying somethinga hairdryerDon't put that sweater in the dryer.
lint: short, fine fibres which separate from the surface of cloth. Sp. pelusa.
27. gobs of it
gob: (North American English) a large amount of something. E.g. great gobs of cash.
28. altruism /ˈæltruɪzəm/ the fact of caring about the needs and happiness of other people more than your own. E.g. Politicians are not necessarily motivated by pure altruism.
29. detractors
30. widespread: existing or happening over a large area or among many people. E.g. widespread damage. The plan received widespread support throughout the country.
Transcript
ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
Now, what may be the ultimate Internet service, one that helps you clean out the garage.
NPR's Ted Robbins explains.
TED ROBBINS: Deron Beal is really proud of his home office in Tucson. More to the point, he's proud of how he got what's in the office - a computer, two desks, bookshelves and filing cabinets.
DERON BEAL: Pretty much everything you look at - aside from the chair I'm sitting on, I had to get an extra tall chair - is re-use. And that's pretty cool in my book.
ROBBINS: The extra tall chair is for Deron Beal's lanky 6'4" body. He spends most of his day in the chair running freecycle.org. The Web site is pretty simple, just members in local groups posting things to give away or requesting things they want.
Unlike eBay or Craigslist, on Freecycle nothing is for sale.
BEAL: Our main rule worldwide is keep it free, legal and appropriate for all ages. So legal means no drugs. Appropriate for all ages means no alcohol, tobacco or firearms, which children shouldn't have, that kind of thing. And free means free.
ROBBINS: Freecycle began three years ago when Beal e-mailed friends offering a bed that he didn't want and didn't want to send to the landfill. Today, Freecyle has about two and a half million members in more than 3,000 local groups in 70 countries, all shuffling stuff from non-use to re-use.
BEAL: After all, we're all going to pass away some day and you don't want to leave a shed full of junk to your kids. You want to get it out there where people who need it and want it can use it.
ROBBINS: Beal even has a mandate from his wife, Jennifer. No more acquiring until he gives away what he already has.
JENNIFER BEAL: Like a huge old coin collection and boxes and boxes of comics that he couldn't get rid of.
ROBBINS: But he's learning. He got an Abdominizer off Freecycle, kept it for six months without using it and finally got rid of it again on Freecycle. There's a lot of exercise equipment posted, but the biggest category of giveaway, says Beal, is not one particular thing. It's inconvenient things.
BEAL: You see a lot of heavy items that you'd otherwise have to lug to the landfill, right. And you'd rather give it away than lug it somewhere.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO ROLLING)
ROBBINS: And it doesn't get much heavier than a piano.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO ROLLING)
ROBBINS: On a warm summer evening, Shawn Kramer(ph) and his friend Jay Langdon(ph) push a battered, 100-year-old upright into a trailer hitched to Langdon's pickup truck. Sandy and Scott Lockerby(ph) watch. They're giving the piano away.
SANDY LOCKERBY: I really like the piano and would have liked to have spent the money to have it restored, but started having kids and there are just other priorities for the money and -
SCOTT LOCKERBY: I'm glad it's out of the house.
ROBBINS: And Jay Kramer can't wait to get it into his. Kramer's kids wanted to learn the piano, but he couldn't afford to keep renting. So the family will make a project out of restoring the barely playable instrument.
(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO PLAYING)
ROBBINS: Before he leaves, Kramer learns the piano's history - always a nice thing to know. And he figures it just became a little richer.
JAY KRAMER: Now this is going to be the piano that was on NPR. It just increased in value.
ROBBINS: Value, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. A teacher planning a class project once asked for dryer lint. Deron Beal says she got gobs of it. But for all its apparent altruism, Freecycle is not without detractors.
They criticize Beal for taking a salary from a corporate sponsor and the organization is fighting a lawsuit challenging its trademark of the name. Critics say Freecycle is a generic and widespread term. Beal says he welcomes anyone who wants to keep things out of landfills, as long as they use another name.
Ted Robbins, NPR News, Tucson.
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