Freegle is a
UK organisation that aims to increase
reuse
Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose (conventional reuse) or to fulfill a different function ( creative reuse or repurposing). It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of u ...
and reduce
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
by offering a free
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
-based service where people can give away and ask for things that would otherwise be thrown away.
History
Freegle was formed on 11 September 2009 after many
Freecycle groups in the UK decided to break away from the US parent organisation following disagreements on how groups in the UK should operate and the dismissal of long-term UK moderators, who had been speaking out.
Organisation
Each local Freegle group is run by volunteers, is autonomous and affiliates to the national Freegle Ltd organisation provided they meet basic requirements such as being free to join and everything handed on must be free and legal. Freegle Ltd is a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
: Registered Society (previously known as an Industrial and Provident Society for Community Benefit) Registration no: 32410R. and registered as a charity with HMRC reference XT32865.
Membership numbers
In January 2021, there were 453 groups, supported by about 449 volunteers, with 3,267,715 members in the UK.
Hosting
Freegle groups are hosted on Freegle's own open source platform, which is availabl
here (client)an
here (server) A lot Freegle groups are also accessible via the Trash Nothing website.
Mobile apps
In April 2015 the Freegle mobile app was launched to allow access to Freegle Direct groups on Android, iOS and Kindle phones and tablets.
See also
*
Gift economy
A gift economy or gift culture is a system of exchange where valuables are not sold, but rather given without an explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards. Social norms and customs govern giving a gift in a gift culture; although there ...
*
Reciprocal altruism
In evolutionary biology, reciprocal altruism is a behaviour whereby an organism acts in a manner that temporarily reduces its fitness while increasing another organism's fitness, with the expectation that the other organism will act in a similar m ...
*
Reuse
Reuse is the action or practice of using an item, whether for its original purpose (conventional reuse) or to fulfill a different function ( creative reuse or repurposing). It should be distinguished from recycling, which is the breaking down of u ...
*
Sharing
Sharing is the joint use of a resource or space. It is also the process of dividing and distributing. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of inherently finite goods, such as a common pasture or a shared residence. Still ...
*
Sharing economy
In capitalism, the sharing economy is a socio-economic system built around the sharing of resources. It often involves a way of purchasing goods and services that differs from the traditional business model of companies hiring employees to produce ...
*
Circular economy
A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...
*
Waste Hierarchy
Waste hierarchy is a tool used in the evaluation of processes that protect the environment alongside resource and energy consumption from most favourable to least favourable actions. The hierarchy establishes preferred program priorities based ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official Freegle site
Recycling organizations
British environmental websites
Waste organizations
Freecycling