Technology Innovation to Apply the Freecycle Concept: Background, Evolution and Technological Solutions
Abstract
Purpose: This article shows the proposal of a useful application, which facilitates communication and interaction between two people, promoting and putting into practice the concept of Freecycle.
Methodology/Approach: A contextualisation of the theme is done, namely the concept of Freecycle, showing how it emerged and evolved, as well as how technology can be applied to it for its promotion. Based on this study, the information systems and technological architectures of the proposed solution are shown.
Findings: Freecycle has been gaining more and more relevance, being seen as a way to reduce the waste of goods, which can lead to the reduction of raw materials spent to produce new goods. The proposed application allows this concept to be put into practice, playing an active role in improving the conditions of our planet.
Research Limitation/implication: The application is under development, and this article presents the results achieved so far. In the future, more tests will be done when the application is fully developed with a larger population.
Originality/Value of paper: The currently existing applications do not contemplate all the potentialities of Freecycle, so the proposed solution intends to improve the dissemination of this concept and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, protecting our planet.
References
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Aptekar, S. (2016). Gifts Among Strangers: The Social Organization of Freecycle Giving. Social Problems, 63(2), 266–283. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spw005
Belk, R. (2014). You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1595–1600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001
Black, I. R., & Cherrier, H. (2010). Anti-consumption as part of living a sustainable lifestyle: Daily practices, contextual motivations and subjective values. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 9(6), 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.337
Bulkeley, H., & Gregson, N. (2009). Crossing the threshold: Municipal waste policy and household waste generation. Environment and Planning A, 41(4), 929–945. https://doi.org/10.1068/a40261
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Chun, S. G. (2013). Are Students Satisfied with the Use of Smartphone Apps? Issues in Information Systems 14 (2). 23-33. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271527174
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Eden, S. (2017). Blurring the boundaries: Prosumption, circularity and online sustainable consumption through Freecycle. Journal of Consumer Culture, 17(2), 265–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540515586871
Figueiredo, B., Carvalho, S., Silva, J.C., Carvalho, J.V. (2021). International Conference on Tourism Technology & Systems - ICOTTS´2021. November 2021, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
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Sari, Pamela (2010), Offer, wanted, taken: Laramie Freecycle and the redefinition of everyday meanings of citizenship. University of Wyoming ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Schmidt, C., Krauth, T., & Wagner, S. (2017). Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51 (21), 12246–12253 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368
Schmitz, C., Bartsch, S., & Meyer, A. (2016). Mobile App Usage and its Implications for Service Management – Empirical Findings from German Public Transport. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 224, 230–237.
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Sun, J., Du, T., Sun, W., Na, H., He, J., Qiu, Z., Yuan, Y., & Li, Y. (2019). An evaluation of greenhouse gas emission efficiency in China’s industry based on SFA. Science of the Total Environment, 690, 1190–1202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.093
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TradeMade (2023). A Trade and Barter App, With a Good Cause. https://trademade-app.com. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
TrashNothingh (2023) Trash Nothing Homepage https://trashnothing.com/beta/ retrieved July 3, 2023.
United Nations (2021), #BeatPlasticPollution This World Environment Day. https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/ Retrieved February 4, 2021.
Yaman, C. (2020). Investigation of greenhouse gas emissions and energy recovery potential from municipal solid waste management practices. Environmental Development 33, 100484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2019.100484.
Zgodavova, K., Bober, P., Majstorovic, V., Monkova, K., Santos, G., Juhaszova, D. (2020). Innovative methods for small mixed batches production system improvement: The case of a bakery machine manufacturer. Sustainability (Switzerland) 12, 6266. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156266
Albinsson, P. A., & Yasanthi Perera, B. (2012). Alternative marketplaces in the 21st century: Building community through sharing events. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 11(4), 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1389
Aptekar, S. (2016). Gifts Among Strangers: The Social Organization of Freecycle Giving. Social Problems, 63(2), 266–283. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spw005
Belk, R. (2014). You are what you can access: Sharing and collaborative consumption online. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1595–1600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.10.001
Black, I. R., & Cherrier, H. (2010). Anti-consumption as part of living a sustainable lifestyle: Daily practices, contextual motivations and subjective values. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 9(6), 437–453. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.337
Bulkeley, H., & Gregson, N. (2009). Crossing the threshold: Municipal waste policy and household waste generation. Environment and Planning A, 41(4), 929–945. https://doi.org/10.1068/a40261
Burns, A (2012), Freecycling Izmir: An Ethical Outlook for Future Fashion Designers. 1st International Fashion and Textile Design Symposium, 8-10th October 2012. Department of Fashion and Textile Design, Faculty of Fine Arts, Akdeniz University.
Chun, S. G. (2013). Are Students Satisfied with the Use of Smartphone Apps? Issues in Information Systems 14 (2). 23-33. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271527174
Digital Turbine (2021). The Rise Of Mobile: How Mobile Apps Have Changed Our Lives. https://www.digitalturbine.com/blog/the-rise-of-mobile-how-mobile-apps-have-changed-our-lives/ Retrieved February 3, 2021.
Doiro, M.; Fernández, J.F.; Félix, M.J.; Santos, G. (2017). ERP - machining centre integration: a modular kitchen production case study. Procédia Manufacturing, 13, 1159-1166.
Eden, S. (2017). Blurring the boundaries: Prosumption, circularity and online sustainable consumption through Freecycle. Journal of Consumer Culture, 17(2), 265–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540515586871
Figueiredo, B., Carvalho, S., Silva, J.C., Carvalho, J.V. (2021). International Conference on Tourism Technology & Systems - ICOTTS´2021. November 2021, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
Freecycle Network. https://www.freecycle.org/ Retrieved February 3, July 2023.
Freegle (2023) Freegle Homepage https://www.ilovefreegle.org/ Retrieved July 3, 2023.
Jimenez, G., Santos, G., Sá, J.C., Ricardo, S., Pulido, J., Pizarro, A., Hernández, H. (2019). Improvement of productivity and quality in the value chain through lean manufacturing - A case study. Procedia Manufacturing 41, 882-889.
Klug, K. (2017). A Gift for a Stranger: Freecycling as a Current Lifestyle of Sustainable Consumption (pp. 201–207). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54603-2_17
Lee, Y., H Chan, Z. W., Balaji, T. K., Yee-Loong Chong, M. S, & Yee-Loong, A. (2016). Technology-Mediated Sharing Economy: Understanding User Participation in Collaborative Consumption Through the Benefic Cost Perspective. http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2016/110
Lekve-Bjelle, E., Wiebe, K. S., Többen, J., Tisserant, A., Ivanova, D., Vita, G., & Wood, R. (2021). Future changes in consumption: The income effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Energy Economics, 105114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105114
Liu, F., Johnson, Z., Massiah, C., & Lowrey, T. M. (2020). Nonmonetary and nonreciprocal freecycling: Motivations for participating in online alternative giving communities. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 19(4), 339–350. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1810
Quercus (2021) Os 3 Rs. https://www.quercus.pt/residuos/3608-os-3-rs. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
NASA (2020) Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ Retrieved March 19, 2020,
Nicholson, S. R., Rorrer, N. A., Carpenter, A. C., & Beckham, G. T. (2021). Manufacturing energy and greenhouse gas emissions associated with plastics consumption. Joule 17, 673-686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2020.12.027
Osburg, T., & Lohrmann, C. (Eds.). (2017). Sustainability in a Digital World. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54603-2
Santos, G., Barbosa, J. (2006). QUALIFOUND - a modular tool developed for Quality Improvement in Foundries. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 17(3), 351-362. https://doi.org/10.1108/17410380610648308
Sari, Pamela (2010), Offer, wanted, taken: Laramie Freecycle and the redefinition of everyday meanings of citizenship. University of Wyoming ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Schmidt, C., Krauth, T., & Wagner, S. (2017). Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51 (21), 12246–12253 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368
Schmitz, C., Bartsch, S., & Meyer, A. (2016). Mobile App Usage and its Implications for Service Management – Empirical Findings from German Public Transport. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 224, 230–237.
Statista (2021) Internet users in the world 2020. https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/ Retrieved February 2, 2021,
Sun, J., Du, T., Sun, W., Na, H., He, J., Qiu, Z., Yuan, Y., & Li, Y. (2019). An evaluation of greenhouse gas emission efficiency in China’s industry based on SFA. Science of the Total Environment, 690, 1190–1202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.093
Torricke-Barton, D. How the internet is uniting the world (2021). https://medium.com/@dextbarton/how-the-internet-is-uniting-the-world?36408b457692. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
TradeMade (2023). A Trade and Barter App, With a Good Cause. https://trademade-app.com. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
TrashNothingh (2023) Trash Nothing Homepage https://trashnothing.com/beta/ retrieved July 3, 2023.
United Nations (2021), #BeatPlasticPollution This World Environment Day. https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/ Retrieved February 4, 2021.
Yaman, C. (2020). Investigation of greenhouse gas emissions and energy recovery potential from municipal solid waste management practices. Environmental Development 33, 100484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2019.100484.
Zgodavova, K., Bober, P., Majstorovic, V., Monkova, K., Santos, G., Juhaszova, D. (2020). Innovative methods for small mixed batches production system improvement: The case of a bakery machine manufacturer. Sustainability (Switzerland) 12, 6266. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156266
Authors
Santos, G., Figueiredo, B. ., Carvalho, S. ., & Silva, J. C. . (2023). Technology Innovation to Apply the Freecycle Concept: Background, Evolution and Technological Solutions. Quality Innovation Prosperity, 27(3), 89–108. https://doi.org/10.12776/qip.v27i3.1928
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