Jennifer Cohen’s Bethesda apartment is full of boxes. She’s moving to Arlington, Va., soon, but isn’t taking everything with her.
In one corner is a set of tins, an old bottle and a paisley footrest — all unpacked.
Those items? She’s Freecyling them.
Freecycle is an international group founded in 2003 that finds new homes for items no longer wanted by their current owners. The Internet group has more than 4,300 groups worldwide, including one in Bethesda-Chevy Chase.
‘‘It helps keep things out of landfills,” said Cohen, who’s been a member for about one year. ‘‘Plus it helps me get rid of a lot of stuff I just don’t want or need anymore.”
Cohen is one of the more than 2,000 members of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Freecycle group, which was founded in October 2004. Group members post items online on a message board, and give a brief description of the item and where its prospective new owner can pick it up.
Members can also post ‘‘Wanted” items, and hope for the best.
There are a few caveats: no alcohol, firearms, drugs or ‘‘adult” items. Beyond those rules though, Freecycle runs the gamut.
Items in recent weeks have included everything from broken fax machines and a box of veggie burgers to soccer cleats and PVC piping.
Freecycle is different than other Web sites, like Craigslist, that give stuff away, because it specializes in only that one field. Cohen said she feels better about using Freecycle than Craigslist, as well.
‘‘Freecycle seems more family-oriented, so it’s not creepy at all,” she said. ‘‘I’ve had no problems letting people into my house to pick up an item.”
Lisa Orange of Bethesda has been a member for about a year. Since she joined she’s given away nearly 15 items, including take-out containers, a towel rack and unused craft materials. Most of the items, she said, she just finds while cleaning out her basement.
‘‘There are times when I can’t think of a use [for the items], but surely someone else can,” Orange said. ‘‘With the plastic containers, there were too many to throw away, and I knew someone could use them.”
Joy Siegel also joined the Bethesda-Chevy Chase group about a year ago. She has given away more than 40 items, including a birdbath, poker chips and electrical wire. Siegel said while she gives away many items, there was one special occasion where she stretched the group’s boundaries.
‘‘Someone posted on the group that they wanted a grocery cart because her husband was in the hospital, and she wanted to transport things,” she said. ‘‘We were able to lend her one for a while, then she gave it back.”
Other Freecycle communities have sprung up throughout the county, including a small Burtonsville group with only 200 members so far, a Rockville group with 3,000 members and the county’s largest group, in Silver Spring with 4,600 members.
Hundreds of items are posted every month, and the number of messages on the group’s board has only climbed since its humble beginnings. In November 2004, only 70 messages were posted for the month. By July 2007, there were 1,220 messages.
Orange said while many items are normal, household items, she once came along an odd request.
‘‘Someone posted once that they were looking for worms because they wanted to start a compost pile” she said. ‘‘I’m not sure if they ever got them.”
While Cohen is now trying to get rid of items she doesn’t want before she moves, she said there is one thing that will not change.
‘‘As soon as I move to Arlington I’m going to join their Freecycle group. You never know when you’ll need it.”
