Freecycle for the street with Dutch plastic bags

There are probably a few younger Kitguru readers that have found themselves in a new abode without much in the way of appliances or seating options, and some that simply don't have enough funds to replace an ageing piece of furniture. Those people will likely be familiar with Freecycle – the community that gives away useful items that the original owners no longer need, but someone else might. A Dutch company has created a new, high-street version of this idea and termed it Goedzak, or “Good Bag.”

The premise is that along with your rubbish bags, you place another that's full of items you no longer want, but feel someone else might make use of. Of course a lot of people might take these down to the nearest charity shop, but if you'd rather people just came by and took the stuff for you, this seems like quite a neat idea.

“Every now and then we throw out these items, while they still might be of value and/or useful to others. These items disappear in grey garbage bags and end up on trash piles. Goedzak offers these items a second chance,” said creators of the Good Bag, Simon Akkaya and Maarten Heijltjes to PopupCity. Currently the pair are looking for a Dutch local government to allow them to run a test project to see if there is much demand for such a service.

KitGuru Says: While this is unlikely to work in the rural cul-de-sac that I find myself writing out of, those in built up areas are likely to see far more success – simply because the foot traffic is greater. Of course the questions remains whether it would work in the UK at all, as we have a history of not treating our well intentioned community projects well.

What do you guys think?

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