Pickers look through items donated to a freecycling event held in the parking lot of the Crystal Springs Family Aquatic Center on May 17. The event was sponsored by the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission. For those who picked through the piles in the hopes of finding anything useful, the goal was clear.
“To find treasure,” Deanna Filippone, a longtime donor and “picker,” said as she hauled two garbage bags full of goods to her car.
On May 17, the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission (FEBEC) held the sixth semiannual freecycling event in the parking lot of the Crystal Springs Family Aquatic Center.
Holding this event since 2011, the aim of FEBEC is to keep still-usable items out of the landfill and put them in the hands of people who can continue to use them through the exchanges freecycling makes possible.
“We have all sorts of stuff; it’s amazing what people take and it’s amazing what people have,” Lois Moskowitz, FEBEC treasurer, said.
PHOTOS BY MICHAEL NUNES/STAFF During the event almost any items are accepted and, in return, donors have the opportunity to select from goods that other people have donated.
“The spirit of the activity is to share stuff and give back to people who need it,” Moskowitz said.
The freecycling event began with the help of East Brunswick businessman Reviv Mor, who operates the junk-removal and hauling company, R Mor Enterprises. With a focus on clearing homes, he said it occurred to him that all the discarded items he is hired to dispose of would be better off in the hands of people who could use them than in the landfill.
“For me, the most important thing is to know all this is not going to a landfill,” Mor said.
According to Mor, 95 percent of the items that people donate to the events end up being taken by someone else or recycled. The other 5 percent ultimately winds up in a landfill.
Mor gives not only his time, but also his trucks to help transport leftover items that no one has picked up.
“It’s reduce, reuse, recycle — in that order, and we are working on the middle one,” Liti Haramaty, FEBEC secretary, said.
The event has been useful for residents of East Brunswick and the surrounding area in times of hardship.
After superstorm Sandy, the organization saw an upturn in donations. According to Haramaty, people brought U-Haul trucks to take as much furniture as they could to refurbish their storm-damaged homes.
Those who came to the freecycling event were pleased to get free goods they could pick up while they contributed to a good cause.
“You can often find things you can use for free and in the process keep stuff out of the landfill,” said John Samtak, a resident of Bedminster, who was perusing the goods.
“People really don’t want to throw things away. They want to recycle things, and this is a great place for that,” Adrienne Kish, a longtime donor to the event, said.
FEBEC holds the freecycling event twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. For more information, visit www.friendsebec.com.