by Beth Buczynski

There are lots of ways to give and get quality used stuff for free. Craig's List. Local Thrift Stores. Freecycle.org. A new effort seeks to combine these efforts with millions of Facebook users to create a freecycling powerhouse.

For those that might be unfamiliar: Freecycling is a movement to help reduce the flow of waste to landfills by encouraging neighbors to give unwanted but reusable household items to each other instead of throwing them away.

Oodle, a marketplace app that's already in place on Facebook, recently launched FreeCircles, where users can offer items to each other, search among available items, or request something specific. Basically, the application acts like a hyperlocal Craig's List that's accessible from within Facebook.

"Finding a way to reuse items you no longer need, before you start thinking about disposal, is always an environmentally sound choice," said Barry Monheit, CEO of Earth911.com, a recycling directory that was one ofOodle's beta test partner at the start of FreeCircles. "Before you throw something away, you should take a minute to post it to your local FreeCircle to let your neighbors know it's available."

Rather than trying to replace existing sharing networks, Oodle's FreeCircles app provides tools to assist the efforts of moderators on existing Freecycle, ReUseIt, FullCircles, Freegle, and other freecycling groups on Yahoo! Groups.

Moderators can now grow their membership using the new "Promote My Group" feature on Marketplace. This functionality publicizes the group's listings to local Marketplace users, customers of Recology, and users of Earth911's directory. Promote My Group is free and takes just a few minutes to set up. To find out more about Promote My Group, go to blog.oodle.com/promote-my-group.

Oodle is initially launching FreeCircles in the San Francisco Bay Area - including in Palo Alto, Burlingame, and Mountain View. But the app will soon be expanding the program to include other cities across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. To find your local FreeCircle on Marketplace go to facebook.oodle.com/freecircles.