Local eco-blogger Vanessa Farquharson spent a year going green in radical fashion, chronicling her endeavours on her blog, Green as a Thistle, and in her upcoming book, Sleeping Naked Is Green.

In the run-up to Earth Day, we've asked her to provide us with a daily tip on how to become more environmentally friendly in the most unfriendly of ways.

I've heard of Freecycling, but how exactly does it work? How is it different from dumping your stuff on Craigslist?

Funny you should ask — I actually just wrote about Freecycle for the National Post. But in short: it's an online, grassroots, user-operated network with over 14,000 members in Toronto, and is much like Craigslist except there's no money involved — it's just people giving and getting stuff for free. In terms of giving, there's no profit to be made, but there is a lot of convenience in being able to leave a clunky old TV on your front porch and have it disappear within hours. Plus, you know that it's going to someone's home rather than into a landfill, which adds a nice environmental bonus.

Most of the messages will have subject headings like, "WANTED: Area rug," "OFFER: Brown couch" or "TAKEN: Glass jars" with a brief description in the body of the email. If you see something you want, you have to be pretty quick about emailing that person and providing a contact number; if you're getting rid of something, you'll most likely get a stream of email replies within minutes, so be prepared. It takes some playing around with to figure out the system, but it's really just a Yahoo! Groups thing and pretty basic at its core, and I think it offers a more personal touch than just dropping stuff off at Goodwill.


What was the oddest thing you managed to get rid of or get a hold of via Freecycle?

I've never gotten anything off Freecycle before, but I think I might try putting up a Wanted ad for a toaster oven, or maybe an old mirror, which I could use in my bedroom. Anyway, I personally think Freecycle is the best for purging rather than acquiring. The funny thing is, at first, I would write a post for whatever I wanted to get rid of with all these fancy adjectives, using every rhetorical device in the book to convince someone it would be worth schlepping over to my house in the west end for the sole purpose of taking a used Brita jug off my hands; but I quickly realized that, when something's free, almost anyone will take it. Seriously.

The last time I posted an ad, I had this bag full of completely random crap that I needed to get rid of because I was moving — it was basically a weird mix of canned beans, half-used laundry detergent, wire hangers, motor oil, a cat brush and so on — and couldn't be bothered to list everything, so I literally just wrote, "I've got a bag full of random stuff on my porch. Who wants it?" and within minutes I received about a dozen requests. Once, I had all these moisturizers and bath products that I'd taken home from the swag pile at work and kind of dipped my finger into once or twice but didn't really want, and they ended up going to this guy named Buddy who gave them to his wife as a birthday present. I'm not sure how I'd react if my boyfriend gave me a plastic bag full of used wrinkle cream for my birthday, but hey.


Hold on, was that how you got your mattress? Can you tell that story either way 'cause it's crazy? Thanks.

[Laughs] Oh my god, that is a ridiculous saga, but no, it didn't come about through Freecycle. I actually tell that whole mattress story in my book, so maybe I'll hold back for now and simply say BUY MY BOOK! IT'S CHEAP! AND FUNNY! AND TOTALLY NOT ANNOYING OR PREACHY! However, I will reveal this: it involves an elusive place called Thistle Drive, supposedly located in Richmond Hill; a small and generous man named Fred; a severe lack of funds; and the dirty back room of a U-Haul office. See, don't you want to read it now?

Read more of Vanessa Farquharson's Green to the Extreme tips and other ways to make yourself more environmentally friendly at www.eyeweekly.com/greenliving.

Email us at: LETTERS@EYEWEEKLY.COM or send your questions to EYEWEEKLY.COM
625 Church St, 6th Floor, Toronto M4Y 2G1