i joined our local freecycle groups a few months back. it's organised using yahoo groups and is a local 'swap shop' with an eco-friendly ethos.
the deal is, you post messages to the bulletin board of things you want to get rid of. so, for instance, we've got rid of the cardboard boxes we used for moving house. we shifted the plants we no longer had space for. we've got rid of pictures, ornaments, spice racks that we don't use/need/want any more. a few hours after you advertise your wares you find your inbox flooded with requests. you choose someone from the list and they come over and pick it up. end result: you have space, they have something they want and it doesn't go to landfill. can't get better than that.
we've also acquired an air filter and ioniser by the same method. i walked over to pick it up after work one day and we now have a free, working, air filter doobie to combat the pollen count from the squillion trees in this area. fab.
the list does get a bit busy at weekends so i generally get the digest email unless we are actively looking to shift stuff/acquire something. like right now we have some gear we want to get rid of. we're never going to use some of this stuff again, so someone might as well enjoy it. and i've requested an ice cream maker, after seeing tanya make almost raw ice cream (see: vegan ice cream at freshtopia dot net)
my favourite request has got to be for the loan of a goat for a week, to clear out an overgrown garden. fabulous.
and there was a rather lovely story about the guy who fixes up iPods, which is how i found out about it all in the first place. read a very kind man, at the londonist.
