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Welcome to Freecycle.org where the mission is simlple: to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources and eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community. Now living clutter free also means keeping your community clean and green. Freecycle™ was launched on May 1, 2003 by Deron Beal, an environmentalist who at the time was working for a small nonprofit recycler in Tuscon, Arizona. Through his job, he saw firsthand, the items people were discarding and thought that some of the items, while no longer useful to their present owner, would make a welcomed gift for someone in need. The wheels started turning, the give and take idea was massaged, and the freecycle concept took flight.
Freecycle exists because of the volunteer moderators who “own” the local freecycle groups and manage its activity. Owners like Erika Muller who has been volunteering and operating New York’s Nassau County group for the last four years. When asked how much time she devotes to managing her Freecycle group, she replied “probably more than 40 hours a week”. That is in addition to her full time job in New York City and raising her family on Long Island. Like the other “owners”, she doesn’t get paid with money, but is rewarded with the result of doing something good for people and great for the environment. “I do it because it is my way of giving back,” she said. “I don’t have lots of money to donate to charity or lots of free time to volunteer somewhere. This is something I can do that fits into my life and lifestyle. I love doing it. I was raised to understand the importance of giving back.” Muller’s Nassau County group has nearly 8,000 members who, with another 15,000 or so from the two neighboring Suffolk County groups, bring the total Freecycle membership on Long Island to over 23,000. Part of the owner’s responsibility is to enforce the rules—and there are many. All of them aim to keep the members safe (some of the more obvious rules include forbidding the exchange of tobacco, guns, drugs, or pornography) and to make the experience rewarding. The rules, along with Freecycle etiquette tips are posted online.
In five short years, Deron Beal’s idea is now a success on so many levels. His Freecycle concept has inspired a grass-roots altruistic trend that has spread to over 75 countries and includes thousands of local groups representing millions of members—people helping people. As a result, the Freecycle website reports that “we are currently keeping over 300 tons a day out of landfills! This amounts to four times the height of Mt. Everest in the past year alone, when stacked in garbage trucks!” Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box on the network’s website (www.freecycle.org) or by clicking on “Browse Groups” to locate one closest to you. Chances are there is a group already established in your local area, if not, you can volunteer to start one following the posted instructions. The benefits of the Freecycle Network are many: keeping things out of the local landfills, giving away something that has no use in our life anymore to someone who could extend its usefulness a little longer, giving gifts to people while clearing out our own clutter, and creating, building, and sustaining an environmentally aware community. The Freecycle Network is a private, nonprofit organization based out of Tucson, Arizona, and stewarded by many volunteers like Erika Muller. Visit www.freecycle.org to find the Freecycle group in your area. Top 10 Ways To Green Your Halloween
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Your Mailbox:
According to Catalog Choice: Each year more than 19 billion paper catalogs are mailed to American consumers. What’s the impact?
“Every day, millions of unwanted catalogs clog consumers’ mailboxes and are immediately tossed in the trash. More than just an annoyance, they are overflowing municipal waste systems, devouring precious natural resources, and contributing to pollution and global warming,” says Laura Hickey, senior director for Global Warming Education at the National Wildlife Federation, which joined the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ecology Center to launch the Catalog Choice service in the fall of 2007. Catalog Choice services both consumers and businesses. Consumers can indicate which catalogs they no longer wish to receive, and businesses can receive a list of consumers no longer wanting to receive their catalogs—saving them production, postage, and associated mailing costs. Catalog Choice makes it easy for you to simplify your life, reduce clutter, and save natural resources. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
Catalog Choice is a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. It is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund. The Catalog Choice community is presently 994,285 persons strong, having already opted out of 13,132,903 catalogs. To take advantage of this free service or to find out more, visit www.catalogchoice.org. Hope
Is Brewing: Pink. Many people associate this color with happy occasions like the birth of a baby girl, sprinkles on a birthday cake, or a beautiful sunset sky. For others, the color pink symbolizes something different—strength, friendship, and hope. Hope for a cure for breast cancer.
Roast Master and breast cancer survivor Kathi Zollman worked with Paramount Coffee to create Caffe Rosa, which premieres this month. "Being a survivor takes a certain level of responsibility,” said Zollman. “"I developed Caffe Rosa understanding this responsibility and with a simple mission,” she added, “"to help breast cancer survivors find strength in themselves as they continue to heal spiritually, emotionally, and physically."
For each bag of Caffe Rosa coffee that is sold, Paramount Coffee will donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure—the world's largest and most progressive grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists. http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm With its rich aroma and bold flavor, this “pink coffee” will connect you to this important cause and the amazing individuals on their journey toward survival. A 1 lb. bag is $9.99 at www.cafferosacoffee.com. Drink
To Your Health:
Pure Heart features invigorating organic yerba mate (mah-tay) combined with hawthorn and yarrow – all of which are herbs known to promote improved cardiac performance. This heart-healthy blend is combined with organic rose hips, hibiscus, organic raspberry juice and cranberry juice to create a delicious and refreshing grab-and-go drink. The unique combination of robust nutrition and balanced stimulation from the brewed leaves of the rainforest yerba mate tree make Guayakí Yerba Mate a healthy source of energy. Guayaki Pure Heart contains caffeine comparable to coffee and energy drinks; however, the caffeine is balanced by mate’s content of theobromine (the euphoriant in chocolate), and another mild stimulant named theophylline. Yerba mate is also a good source of B vitamins including pantothenic acid—the "anti-stress'' vitamin which promotes proper function of the adrenal gland. Yerba mate is also a rich source of magnesium, which has been proven to ease anxiety. Many caffeine-sensitive people that drink yerba mate gain vitality and clarity of mind, but don’t experience the jitters, stomach discomfort, energy crash and headaches that are common complaints expressed by people that drink coffee and energy drinks. Unlike other functional and energy drink on the market today that feature synthetic and isolate ingredients, Guayaki follows a “whole plant - whole health” herbal tradition that unleashes the natural form of these nutrients in a way that the body can easily absorb and process them. Guayaki Pure Heart is mildly sweetened with organic cane juice, and has far less calories (50) per serving than most other drinks in the marketplace. Guayaki Pure Heart can be purchased at thousands of natural foods stores, supermarkets, cafes and gyms. Founded in 1996, Guayakí is the leading provider of organic, fairly-traded, rainforest-grown yerba mate in North America. In addition to Pure Heart, Guayaki offers six other bottled Organic Yerba Mate Drinks, the new San Mateo Loose Yerba Mate and Traditional Loose Yerba Mate, six Yerba Mate Tea Bag Blends, Traditional Yerba Mate Tea Bags, Gaucho’s Fuerte Espresso Mate, two varieties of Mate Latté Concentrates and traditional yerba accessories. Visit www.guayaki.com to learn more. FYI…The name Guayaki (Gwy-uh-KEE) honors the Aché Guayakí people. The Ache live in the sub-tropical rainforests of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, home of the yerba mate tree. The
Purple Book Goes Green:
In the green edition of thepurplebook the editors have turned their focus to finding the web’s best eco-friendly stores. The e-commerce sites included in thepurplebook green edition give the reader information about the Internet’s best earth-friendly shops, shops that offer products designed with the planet in mind. Over 400 online stores are included and evaluated on several different criteria—their level of “green”, how easy or difficult it is to navigate the website, and shipping costs. Thumbing through the pages of thepurplebook green edition (which, of course, is made from recycled paper) you’ll find an alphabetical list of the green e-tailers and a helpful index by product category. From art supplies to shirts and ties, you’ll find this book full of responsible online shopping options in a wide variety of categories. It includes helpful hints for going green or getting greener. A listing of green organizations is particularly useful for further research and information. thepurplebook green edition by Hillary Mendelsohn and Ian Anderson. Published by Purple Book LLC. January 2008. Paperback. 288 pages. $11.95. More information or to purchase, visit www.thepurplebook.com, www.amazon.com, or www.bn.com.
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