Let's swap

If you’re considering throwing away perfectly good items at home, try to swap them instead.

Here’s the tip of the day:

As kids, when a friend had something that you wanted and vice versa, sometimes you would simply swap. This same concept remains alive with The Freecycle Network.     

The Arizona-based non-profit organization began as an effort to keep items out of landfills. The group allows people to trade items they no longer need for ones they might prefer. As a result, you can turn your trash into treasure.

Membership is free, and those interested can join their local networking group. The Augusta group has more than 1,200 members.

The Freecycle concept has spread to over 85 countries, where there are thousands of local groups representing millions of members. This swapping effort is keeping over 500 tons of merchandise out of landfills each day, according to Freecycle’s Web site.

For more information, visit www.freecycle.org.

Where do you go to swap or trade gently-used merchandise? Write in to The Pinch to let me know.