by Laura Hinds

Created on: July 16, 2009

With a new twist on recycling and reusing both consumer goods and business items, takemeimFree takes the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle to a national level. This fairly new online community hopes to help the economy and the environment by taking a process usually done only locally, and making it possible to work on a national scale. While operating under a similar philosophy to local only recycling/gifting, the main difference is the national scale for finding or donating which is great; the other difference is the cost of shipping which may take awhile for people to adjust to. This doesn't mean you won't ever find something right in your own community, but the odds are that you won't, at least at first. As more people join local opportunities will grow. Sign up now to get in on the ground floor, so to speak, and start having fun sharing with others.

When you first visit http://www.takemeimFree.com you will find information about how to join the community, answers to many frequently asked questions. Joining is easy, but the one thing you do have to do in order to request items is set up an account with either Federal Express of UPS. There are very specific instructions which are simple to follow so that you can print out a mailing label for the person who you are requesting an item from. If the item you seek is local, you can save that expense and arrange a pickup time with the donor. It is very clearly stated that the person receiving the item is the person responsible for shipping charges.

Donating items for free is easy too! All you have to do is take a digital picture (make sure it is low resolution for web site viewing), sign into your account and follow the directions. Then, when someone asks for the item, you will correspond by email about pick-up or shipping.

takemeimFree was started when Co-founder Chris Kousountidis was recruited by his boss to find ways to reduce overhead expenses. He came up with the idea of clearing out warehouse space which was deemed to be excessive. Yet he knew that throwing away items that would have value to others was wasteful and bad for the already over flowing land-fills. Chris started noticing all the things people threw away with their trash. He noticed a chair with a sign on it that said "Take Me I'm Free" and it struck him as just the right name for the organization he wanted to start. To show people that reuse is as important as recycling, to foster a national online community to help others, and the ultimate goal of "Give, Get, and Smile" are the premises on which takemeimFREE are based.

With the tag line of "give.get.smile" this group is destined to serve the online environment well and do themselves proud while helping both people and the environment. Visit them today at http://www.takemeimFREE.com, browse around, get familiar with the web site and join! Tell your friends and family too!

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