GigoIt - Freecycle Made Simple?
It all started with a message posted on the GreenBusiness Forum, followed by a search for a Hugg post, finally ending with the reading of a cool Green Options article. All in all, a typical day in the life of a green blogger!
Not that long ago I discovered Freecycle (see Reduce, Reuse, Freecycle?) and thought it was the coolest idea since…well…sliced bread? I dunno - anyway, I really liked the idea of being able to very easily give away and get ’stuff’ - stuff that often tends to end up in the trash. As I discovered, there are many many freecyclers in my region alone, so lots and lots of people who will happily come get my junk whenever I want to get rid of it.
All that said, while I still have yet to participate myself, I’ve become quite annoyed with it. I was receiving a zillion messages every single day - even now with it switched over to ‘digest mode’ I still get emails fairly regularly (probably a few each day). You can of course turn off your email notifications, but the actual site doesn’t seem hugely user friendly to me.
So, what’s a greenie to do!?!?
Well according to the Green Options article, GigoIt provides a more user-friendly alternative.
How does Gigoit differ from Freecycle? Simply put, it’s easier. For one, users don’t have to go through a lengthy registration period just to access items up for grabs. Anyone can immediately see what’s available near a given zip code. By eliminating the “mailing list” model, all information is centralized, and it’s much easier to find what’s relevant to the user, his or her area, and what her or she is looking for. Once an item has been picked up, it’s taken off the board by the giver, without having to post a message for everyone else on the site to filter through. Users only receive messages related to their own transactions, and RSS feeds allow users to quickly access the latest items in their area. Users also manage their own profiles, which can be as elaborate or as simple as they want, and users aren’t limited to certain geographical areas–you can access items from all over the country on the same site.
Sounds good to me! There’s only one problem - GigoIt seems to be entirely US-based (us Canucks are outta luck). It is still in the Beta testing stage, so hopefully they have plans to expand north of the border!
Technorati Tags: gigoit, freecycle, ebay, free stuff, junk, garbage, recycling, goodwill, value village
Written by Bentley on January 31st, 2007 with
5 comments.
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Bentley
Ian
#1. February 2nd, 2007, at 3:42 PM.
Even though it isn’t touted as a “green” site, I prefer to use the “free” section of craigslist. I’ve gotten several free haircuts off of there and every time I have something I want to get rid of, from packing peanuts to old magazines, someone usually responds and picks them up within a day or two of my post.