A free box is a box or location used to allow for people to rid themselves of excess items without the inconvenience of a garage sale

Garage sale

A garage sale, also known as a yard sale, rummage sale, tag sale, lawn sale, attic sale, moving sale, or junk sale, is an informal, irregularly scheduled event for the sale of used goods by private individuals, in which "block sales" are allowed, so that sellers are not required to obtain business...

. When someone has items they wish to be rid of, but which might be useful to another person, they are set out and given to whoever wants them. If, after a period, no one has claimed the items, the contents of the box may be donated to a charity like Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Free boxing is implemented at the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

, in Victoria, BC, in Isla Vista, California

Isla Vista, California

Isla Vista is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California in the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 23,096. The majority of residents are college students at nearby University of California, Santa Barbara or at Santa...

, and in Crestone

Crestone, Colorado

Crestone is a statutory town in Saguache County in Southwestern Colorado, United States. The population was 73 at the 2000 census. It is a small village at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range, in the northern part of the San Luis Valley. Crestone was a small mining town, but...

 and Telluride

Telluride, Colorado

The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

.

An online version of a similar concept is The Freecycle Network

The Freecycle Network

The Freecycle Network is a non-profit organization registered in the state of Arizona, USA, and separately registered as a UK charity, that organizes a worldwide network of "gifting" groups, aiming to divert reusable goods from landfills...

.

The University of Guelph

University of Guelph

The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...

, in Guelph, Ontario

Guelph, Ontario

Guelph is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Waterloo and west of downtown Toronto at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 7. It is the seat of Wellington County, but is politically independent of it...

runs a free table for several weeks of the school year.

External links

• Image of the Telluride Free Box on SmithsonianMag.Com
• Free Box Book: A Telluride Tradition
• "The FREEBOX" YouTube video
• "Telluride Colorado Freebox do's and don'ts YouTube video public service program by Telluride TV, Channel 12, a cable TV station.