Freecycling activity trends
June 30, 2009

We examined the activity levels
on a sample of FullCircles and
Freecycle groups across Canada
and one of the older, larger
American groups to see if we
could identify any trends.

The first location we looked at was
Ottawa, Canada...
Activity levels are declining in Ottawa
since the peak year, 2006

Com bined Ottaw FullCircles AND Ottaw Freecycle
a a
Activity. In 2009, even combined, the tw groups have
o
only generated 74% of the traffic of the peak levels of
2006.
Ottawa, Canada - 2004 to 2009

Same trend in Edmonton. Activity levels are declining despite
growing membership.
Combined membership of Edmonton Earthcycle and Edmonton
Freecycle is 19,930 as at June 30, 2009.

Edm onton Earthcycle and Edm onton Freecycle (created
in 2007). In 2009, combined, they generate only 64% of
the peak levels of 2005.
Edmonton Earthcycle and Edmonton Freecycle

London FullCircles and London Freecycle. Com bined,
they generate 79% of the levels of 2006, the peak year
so far.
London Ontario FullCircles & Freecycle

We also looked at one large group in the USA, the Portland,
Oregon group.
At 36,000+ members, it is one of the largest groups in the
world.
Here are the results.

Portland Freecycle--despite grow to 36,000+
ing
m bers--has declining activity levels. 2009 is at just
em
58% of the peak levels of 2004, even m dram
ore atic than
the Canadian groups.
Portland, Oregon Freecycle

Like these graphics?
They are simple to create using Google Docs and the publicly
available data on the front page of every Yahoo! Group.
If you'd like to learn how to create one for your group, just call
me, or drop me a note at:
EGS@FullCircles.org
(613) 688-1570
Eric Snyder
Ottawa, Canada
June 30, 2009