Freecycle Norwich
Reuse options in and around Norwich, including Freecycle & charity shops
Welcome to our complete guide to Freecycle Norwich. Here we discuss all the ways to give and find things for free in and around Norwich. Find out how to join and use Freecycle Norwich as well as other trusted reuse sites.
1) Freecycle Norwich
Freecycle is an online platform for finding and exchanging pre-owned items for free. Within the site are town groups. These communities connect local residents, like Freecycle Norwich. At the time of writing this, Norwich’s town group has over 33,000 members.
Freecycle can cause confusion because a lot of people and organisations have picked it up over the years. It can sometimes refer to Freegle groups or just independent reuse networks. To clarify, Freecycle.org and The Freecycle Network refer to this platform in particular.
To use Freecycle you’ll need to sign up using Facebook or with another email address. The sign up process is free. Then you can find your town group (there may be more than one) and join it to see free pre-loved items up for grabs near you. To list an unwanted item, just take a photo, write a short description and include any preferences about collection. If you want something specific, you can create a Wanted listing and other Norwich residents can contact you.
Make sure you follow Freecycle’s site rules to avoid losing your account:
- Nothing to do with politics, spam or money
- Don’t post any personal ads (e.g. yourself or somebody else)
- Everything posted and listed must be legal (no drugs)
- No animals
2) Trashnothing Norwich
Trashnothing is very similar to Freecycle. Listings from different reuse sites appear together in one place. Just like Freecycle, there are town groups connecting local reusers. Confusingly, Trashnothing’s town groups go by a couple of different names. In this case, there are two town groups for Norwich. One is Norwich Freecycle with 6,700 members and the other is Norwich Freegle with 7,900 members. Don’t worry - the names aren’t too important!
Sign up to Trashnothing and list items just like Freecycle.
3) LoveJunk
LoveJunk is an online marketplace where you can get rid of or give away unwanted larger items. This includes things like furniture, household appliances, exercise equipment and messy waste. If you're in the market for free, pre-owned items, LoveJunk has a section for that, too!
To get rid of something in Norwich, go to LoveJunk's homepage and click "Find A Collector". Follow the instructions to create and post a free listing. Once it is live, LoveJunk shows your item to nearby reusers and also licensed waste collectors. They can contact you through the site. Reusers come and collect the item free of charge, which is fantastic! Sometimes, nobody wants the item even if you think somebody else might like it. Not to worry, because LoveJunk's approved waste collectors can still take it away. The waste collectors charge a fee to sustainably dispose of your item.
To find great pre-owned items in Norwich, make sure you register as a reuser. You can adjust the filters to show items in and around where you live in Norwich. If you see something that catches your eye, all you have to do it message the owner and arrange a collection!
4) Gumtree Norwich Freebies section
You've probably heard of Gumtree already - a site for classified ads selling all sorts of items and services. Apart from the buy and sell features, it also has a 'Freebies' section. This is for items that members are giving away free of charge. Within the website, you can set your filters to just show free items in Norwich.
Sign up for free to message members about their listings and make your own. A basic listing is free to create. If you want to boost the visibility of an item so that more people see it, there are various levels of extra charges. You don't have to pay anything to respond to a boosted listing.
When using Gumtree to find free items, try searching for your item with 'free' at the end. Sometimes members list items they're giving away on the normal Gumtree pages.
5) Norwich Council Reuse Shops
There are two reuse shops in Norwich centre, located at the two household recycling centres. Donate unwanted items here. All profits made by the reuse shop go to the Big C cancer charity. They also sell bags of compost (made from recycled garden waste), compost bins, winter gritting salts and garden waste sacks.
The addresses for the recycling centres are:
Norwich North Recycling Centre: Horsham St Faith, Norwich NR10 3JX.
Norwich South Recycling Centre: Ipswich Rd, Norwich NR4 6FA.
