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Let's say you have a bike you don't need. Or a pile of extra magazines sitting in your house. Or some clothes your children have outgrown. You could throw them out. You could recyle them. Or you could find someone else in your community who could put them to good use.

Enter Freecycle.org. This free, non-profit web service connects people who have extra stuff with others in their community who need that very same stuff.

More than 4 million people in 4,300 communities worldwide are already signed up to use Freecycle. Each participant subscribes to a an email list for their community. Users can post a description of an item they would like to recycle, or request an item someone else in the community might have.

I signed up for Freecyle a few weeks ago, and love reading the emails as they come in. Most of the posts in my part of Maine have been from individuals looking for or giving away clothes, home-improvement items, lawn tools and the like, but a few businesses have also been giving away their extra office supplies. (When I think about how much the companies I used to work for threw out on a daily basis, I wish I had known about Freecyle when it started four years ago.)

A simple email group might not seem like the most technologically advanced method to connect peoples' wants and needs, but it works, and the service keeps all kinds of perfectly useful goods from ending up in landfills. Give it a whirl. You might be able to help a neighbor in need, and you'll be helping the environment in the process.

Want to find out more about recycling? 

Recycling Tips: Did You Know You Cannot Recycle Messy Pizza Boxes? 

The Benefits of Recycling: Let’s Talk Trash

Recycling the Looking Glass: When Garbage and Art Collide

Top 10 Recycling Resources

Recycled Record Snack Tray

The Benefits of Recycling Cardboard

The Art of Garbage

Recycle Those Electronics!

Back to Basics—RRR

Picking Up Garbage TVs and Recycling as Art

Students Recycle and Reduce Garbage: Take It Or Leave It

Knight Rider Recycled—Reborn With Green Twist!

Recycling Your Garbage:  Where Does it All Go?