The following article originally published May 12, 2008, in the Tri-Valley Herald, The San Joaquin Herald, and at www.insidebayarea.com by Cameron Sullivan www.cameronsullivan.net.

It started with a pair of wooden bookcases I dreamed up for my kids. The bookcases would replace two melamine cases that are falling apart. I joined Pleasanton Freecycle in search of somebody else's castoffs. Then I joined Dublin Freecycle (accidentally signing up for the Republic of Ireland group the first time around), followed by San Ramon, Danville, Livermore, Dublin, Stockton and Tracy.

Soon I received up to 98 Freecycle messages in my inbox per day and had to modify my membership settings for "digest only" e-mails sent by moderators. The Freecycle Network is made up of 4,346 groups with more than 5 million members across the globe. The grass-roots, non-profit movement of people giving and getting items for free in their hometowns is motivated by a philosophy of reuse and keeping quality items out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a volunteer.

Two weeks ago, people offered everything from a child's violin and some spare hydraulic acid in Tracy to a one-piece toilet in Danville. Someone from Pleasanton offered two laptops and someone else offered a pair of mirrored doors. A member in Dublin needed a Travis Buck bobblehead, and another offered up 512 MB of RAM. Distracted by the RAM — could I install it in my brain? — I almost forgot about the bookcases.

After finding a sweet deal at Sears on a barbecue grill a couple of weeks before a 15-day onslaught of out-of-town visitors, I decided to post my first message to the Freecycle group for our older, but still working, gas grill.

Without Freecycle, I might have dumped the grill at the transfer station. In the spirit of full disclosure I included a disclaimer, writing, "The electric ignition component is broken and there's a little rust on the burners, but the grill lights easily with a long match or lighter and has a good two years of grilling left in it."

Within 24 minutes of posting, responses flooded my in-box. I gave the grill to the first people to contact me, a young Pleasanton couple who'd been wanting to grill on their apartment porch for a long time. They even e-mailed to tell me about their first, relaxing BBQ experience.

Still no bookcases. Nevertheless, I was having quite a time meeting people through Freecycle. One compassionate woman posted a "wanted" listing on behalf of a mom of three from Tracy who'd fallen on hard times.

Because we want to convert our cluttered home office/guest room into just an office, I replied to her and offered my good-quality, queen-size bed and bedding. It will be many months before I can justify redoing the office furniture. But getting the bed out of the room was a good first step. Plus, it felt good to help.

I began wondering if I could apply the same pre-emptive home improvement theory to other areas of the house. We have a perfectly good, 10-year-old color TV that we'd love to replace with a plasma — one day in the distant future. We're planning a kitchen remodel and will have some appliances to donate — one day. Freecycling could speed up the process.

I kept digging.

Deep in a closet I found an unopened box labeled, "12-piece art scissor set — wood caddy." Inside was a set of scrapbooking scissors I did not recognize. My craftiness is reserved for emergency situations only. I couldn't determine how the set made its way into my house.

Just as I was ready to Freecycle the scissors, my friend Dara Hogue called. Dara is the leader of my daughters' Girl Scout troop. On a long shot, she wondered if I had any scrapbooking scissors the girls could use for a Mother's Day project at that week's meeting.

The set and its wooden caddy now belong to Troop 31134. If Dara wants them badly enough, she should let me store them in her Girl Scouts closet. Her competition is Freecycle, where I can find them an eager new owner in 24 minutes or less.