Reuse It or Lose It: Logging On to Online Re(use)sources

In honor of International Earth Day, which is today, we’ll be devoting a series of posts this week to Israeli ventures and businesses that make our consumption a little greener by reinventing used materials. 

If we don’t reuse our resources we may lose them altogether, so these green heroes definitely deserve our attention and support.

So far we’ve got our books and our babies covered, but what about everything else?  If you’re looking for something specific or if you’re just wondering what other kinds of second hand items are out there, Israel’s many second hand online resources are the way to go.

For free used items there’s the Freecycle network, which is a global, grassroots, non-profit movement of people who are giving away and receiving items for free (and preventing stuff from ending up in landfills).  Freecycle connects people within the same area so that those trying to get rid of used items can post a message to the group and give their items to someone nearby. 

Alternately, if someone is looking for a specific item, he or she can post a message to the group asking if anyone has one to give away.  Check out your local Freecycle group in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Yokneam Ilit, Zichron Yaacov-Alona, Herzliya, or Ramallah.

If you don’t have the time or patience to wait for the right item to appear on Freecycle, though, there’s also a group of websites with a similar goal of giving and receiving used items for free.  Agora allows you to look for items according to geographic area and category. 

Their categories range from electrical appliances and computers to plants, furniture, and even medical equipment.  Altezachen, which claims to have prevented 74 tons of waste from being dumped in landfills to date, also connects givers and takers.  Barvaz, a website with the same concept, offers unique categories such as services, pets, and musical instruments.

For run-of-the-mill second hand items for sale, there’s Yad2, Homeless, Madas, and WinWin.

See also ::Reuse It or Lose It: Read It Again, Sam, ::Reuse It or Lose It: Oh Baby