| WHAT IS FREECYCE GIFTING?
Freecycling is a gifting community using an internet mailing list to connect
people who share the same anti-consumerist values. We believe that owning
a tangible item carries with it a certain responsibility not to waste
the resources and intention that went into the creation, distribution
and use of the item. Freecycle gifting is a great way to find a suitable
next owner of an item we no longer need or to locate a gifter for what
we need.
HOW DO WE START FREECYCLE GIFTING?
The email list (PKF) is how we connect with people to give and receive
gifts. The first step is to become a member of PKF. There are two ways
to join the Portage-Kalamazoo
Freecyle mailing list. From the web, go to the Yahoo
Groups PKF home page and then click on the "JOIN THIS GROUP"
button or send email to the subscribe
address. Shortly after that you should receive a Pending Membership
email from the server. Just follow the instructions in that email to complete
your membership.
THIS MAILING LIST IS A
BIT DIFFERENT THAN MOST.
Email that is addressed to the list will go to all members
but there is no discussion allowed on PKF. When you reply to a message
that is posted to the list the reply goes only to the poster as private
mail, not publicly to the entire list. This keeps the volume of mail down
by letting people make arrangements for the gifting of a specific item
in private mail instead of all the other members getting mail about a
gift they are not involved with.
SUBJECT LINES ARE THE KEY TO MAKING FREECYCLE
GIFTING WORK SMOOTHLY.
The most important part of any posting to the list at PKF is a well composed
subject line. People are busy. Finding the posts that members want to
work with is so much easier if posters use good subject lines. That way
scanning through all the mail from PKF only takes a few minutes a day.
POSTINGS TO THE LIST ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO BE ON FIVE TOPICS.
They are Offer, Want, Pending
(or PPU), Taken and my personal favorite,
Praise (or Thank You). One of these five keywords must be the
first word of the subject line.
THE SUBJECT LINE MUST ALSO INCLUDE A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE GIFT(S).
In the praise post, the subject line must contain the name of the gifter.
(more on subject lines)
THE BODY OF THE POST should
further describe the item offered or asked for if more clarification is
called for. Furthermore, all offers must
include an approximate location or nearby intersection
so responders can know how far they will have to travel for the pick up.
it can be in the subject line or in the body of the post.
The whole idea of these rules for postings is to be courteous
to the list readers. Freecycle gifting generates a lot of email. Busy
members should be able quickly scan the subject lines to find the posts
they might want to "work" with and read more about the details.
Those are the only emails they should need to open and be able to quickly
delete the rest. Proper subject lines that are on Topic make the whole
process efficient. Even a busy day's worth of postings should only take
a couple of minutes to go through if all posters are consistent with on
Topic and descriptive subject lines.
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