Monday, August 16, 2010

Free

Check out this NY Times article about Brooklyn's Free Store.   It's a store in name only, a place where people can get other people's unwanted items.   An ongoing Freecycle Free For All, only not run by the good folks from Freecycle.   (The woman who runs the NYC Freecycle group is some kind of genius bodhisattva, in my mind.   But I digress.)  From the article:
Caryn Prescott, 41, donated some clothes and cosmetics, and Eddie Ballard, 34, from Crown Heights, who came across the store by chance, contributed a recyclable tote bag he happened to have with him, mainly out of a sense of admiration for the project.

“There is something about the communal aspect of this place that appeals to me,” Mr. Ballard said. “I felt like I wanted to give something just to be a part of it.”
How much do I love Mr. Ballard?   Instead of taking something as a souvenir, he gave something in order to participate.   Awesome.  

(Photo:  Free Texture 24 Bokeh by ShironekoEuro via flickr, used under Creative Commons License.  Thank you!)

3 comments:

  1. This is great! I love that it is on Walworth St. (something seems appropos with that word, as opposed to Wal-Mart :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This really is brilliant, isn't it. And there really could be one of these in almost every town. How many open storefronts are there in downtown Beacon? Ely, MN? Arlington Heights, IL? On lower Broadway?

    (And how many cups of coffee, newspapers, etc. would people buy from nearby businesses when visiting the store? What could you stop from entering the waste stream? If I were the mayor, I'd rent a few spots and hire some of the laid off retail talent to run the places.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hmm...We have Beacon's Citizen Network website to put the idea out on. Full of locavores, recyclers, etc. I'll try and pitch it soon!

    ReplyDelete