Word: beal
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Freecycle encourages people to give away unwanted items rather than toss them in the dumpster. The group was founded in Arizona in 2003 by Deron Beal, an employee with a local recycling non-profit who had committed his life to eliminating unnecessary waste. The first incarnation of this online community involved only about 30 people - and Beal's desire to give away a used bed. But that initial gang of recyclers are now joined by more than 4,600 local Freecycle groups spread out across 85 countries. A University of Iowa study analyzed the average number and weight of items...
...Amid the current economic slump, Freecycle has seen a record surge in membership - which, you guessed it, is free - as people look for new and innovative ways to tighten the belt. Worldwide, Beal says Freecycle is adding 30,000 to 60,000 members each week. And Martinez says that in Tucson alone, the average number of new members per month has jumped from 250 to 450 - an increase of 80%. She also says she knew the economy was reaching a new low last month when she posted that she was looking to unload a few extra sweet potatoes...
...While the economy is clearly hitting families hard, Beal said he sees the Freecycle movement as part of a natural cycle in which consumers become more conscious of excesses in their lifestyle. "It's made us more aware of being thoughtful with our consumptive patters, sort of like that grandmother who lived through the Great Depression and now saves every little bottle because she knows there will come a time when you'll have to be careful with everything you have," he says...
...past years, the Freecycle network's busiest days have not been the ones prior to Christmas but those immediately afterward, as members have rushed to give away or exchange all the unwanted gifts they received. This year, though, Beal wonders if that pattern might be broken. "In hard times, we tend to be a little more thoughtful in our giving, and I think that will carry over to receiving too," he says. "Personally, I would love to think that this decrease in spending before Christmas leads to less excess waste that we need to get rid of afterward. It would...
...unscheduled stop at an ice cream parlor in Charleston, W.Va., Biden encountered the owner's daughter, a 28-year-old woman who told him she had suffered a brain aneurysm last December similar to the one that nearly killed Biden in 1988. The Senator threw an arm around Sara Beal's neck, pulled her to him and whispered in her ear. By the time he let her go about five minutes later, planting a kiss on top of her head, both of them were near tears...