A concerned St Leonards woman is urging local people to do their bit for the environment by recycling unwanted household goods.
Jo Monks is a member of online community Hastings Freecycle - one of many which has sprung up across the country and people become more aware of their impact on the environment.
The basic idea behind the group is that anyone who has an old piece o
f furniture, unwanted toys and clothes or even odds and ends can offer them to other members.
An email is sent round to everyone who has signed up and the first person to respond and agree collection gets the item - free of charge.
Any member who is on the lookout for something in particular can also send round an email asking if anyone has one going spare.
It is a simple way of keeping useable goods out of the landfill site and is proving popular - especially as the credit crunch continues to bite.
Miss Monks said: "Through Freecycle I have also acquired a futon, grinder and could have had much more including a caravan, surf board and campervan."
The environmentally conscious Miss Monks hopes more people will use the service and help put an end to the waste currently gripping Hastings and St Leonards and that the council will start doing its bit as well.
She said: "There are large rubbish bins on many streets but these are for the landfill.
"There is far less street provision for recycling. Day after day I see three piece suites, bikes, toys, TV's, stereos, fridges, kitchen units, planks of wood and much more dumped by these bins.
"Unwanted goods are being dumped and people who would have them don't know about these items. These thrown away goods end up filling the landfills creating toxicity which contributes considerably to climate change."
Freecycle addict Miss Monks explained: "To join Hastings Freecycle visit www.freecycle.org and key in Hastings. You can then click on 'join this group'. You will need to set up a Yahoo email address as all freecycling is done through email.
"Look through the emails and see if there's anything on offer you'd like - if so, reply to the sender and if you're lucky the item will still be available and you can go and pick it up.
"People have furnished their homes through freecycle.and other people have emptied their homes through it."
Do you use freecycle? Have you got any good bits and bobs from it? Leave your comments below.The full article contains 420 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
