Post by Category : UK

Greenbuild News:The A team

Getting all these stakeholders involved has been important for the site’s social sustainability as well as helping its environmental goals. Local school children (there’s two schools very close to the site) have been on site tours and worked on biodiversity projects such as building bird boxes. One further example is the way waste has been dealt with. “We have donated materials to local people using a variety of methods, including advertising surplus materials on Freecycle and Gumtree” says Dixon. He also describes how spare Ultralam timber boarding was given to animal charity Anihab to build stables and spare pipework was donated to a local rabbit sanctuary, giving the residents lots of lovely new tunnels to run through.

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North London Today:10,000 sign up for recycling network

THE Enfield Freecycle group, which allows residents to pass unwanted goods on to others in a bid to keep landfill levels down, has topped the 10,000-member mark.

According to the group the milestone was reached on Friday. The group’s website allows people to post information about goods they want to donate and they can also request specific goods they require.

Enfield’s lead moderator Mark Griffin said: “We get all sorts of things up on our website – from plastic ice cube trays, to cars and everything in between.

“It’s a good little community and it is based on goodwill. I detest throwing things away. Last year I gave away a tumble dryer that I was told had been broken. The guy I gave it to managed to get it fixed up.

“One person’s junk is another man’s treasure. We are changing the world one gift at a time. Our aim is to keep things out of landfill and there are very few things that cannot be donated.”

Together with the help of the North London Waste Authority and local authorities, Freecycle events have been staged across north London, including one in Jubilee Park, Edmonton, last year, allowing people to donate goods they no longer need and pick up things they want for free.

The Freecycle Network was launched by Deron Beal in Arizona in 2003 and has now spread to 85 countries. It is estimated to keep 500 tons a day out of landfill worldwide.
Go to http://groups.freecycle.org/enfield_freecycle to sign up.

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The Guardian: Money Saving money Money-saving tips from America … road tested by penny-pinching Brits

■ Discover Freecycle.

We are big fans of this idea – if you are moving home, Freecycle is a brilliant source of free furniture and equipment that you might not be able to afford to buy new. The people running the local sites can be pedantic about the way the ads are worded, though, and there are often many more people wanting things than offering them. You will need to be quick if you see something you like.

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Body & Soul:Budgeting for a baby

Freecycle is a good online resource where you can give and receive pre-loved gear at no cost. For safety reasons, some items are better purchased new, such as capsules, car seats and cots. If you are buying a second-hand cot, ensure it complies with current Australian standards. Visit www.productsafety.gov.au for more information.

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Stourbridge News: Black Country people urged to recycle the high-tech way

DUDLEY Council is urging people to take a hi-tech approach to giving unwanted items a second lease of life.

The website Freecycle allows people to advertise items which may otherwise be dumped in landfill for other site users to collect.

The Dudley Freecycle group has more than 12,000 members, items recently offered include an extending table with four chairs, house bricks and a steel pedal bin.

For more information visit www.dudley.gov.uk/recycling

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Telegraph.co.uk:Swap and share: the new ways to make cash

Worth a look is Freecycle.com, an online community that matches people who have items they want to get rid of to people who can use them. Not only kind on the environment by reducing landfill, but it is great for the pocket, too.

As one of the main rules of Freecycle is a “pick up yourself” policy, your local group is a handy way of getting rid of large items you would normally have to pay to have removed, such as garden furniture and sheds.

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The Guardian: Swapshop revived – for one day only

Everybody’s favourite Saturday morning TV show Swapshop is back. But before you reach for those unwanted Christmas gifts, Monkey has to inform you it’s for one day only. Yes, the pre-eBay and Freecycle way of getting rid of stuff is being revived for one day at London’s Victoria station next Wednesday for a marketing stunt by Confused.com. Noel Edmonds will not be there but Keith “Cheggers” Chegwin will, natch. Suggestions that makeup company Nude is doing a similar stunt by bringing back Cheggers’ infamous Channel 5 show Naked Jungle for a day are wide of the mark. Thankfully.

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The Guardian: Business Tesco Tesco sales slump part of consumer revolution changing the way we shop

“One of the mantras of the amateur economy has been the need to repair, reuse, renew, recycle. Initiatives such as Freecycle will have an impact,” he said.

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Evening Standard: Too much stuff? Try website that finds storage at your neighbours

He said he hoped the website would become “the eBay of storage” and encourage communities to exchange services with each other in a similar vein to Freecycle, a website which allows people to acquire or get rid of objects such as furniture for free.

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ElectricPig.co.uk: Enter the Lazyweb: How to get freebies and your work done for you, using only a browser

Freecycle is a UK-based online commuity that lets people give their unwanted stuff away for free to anyone in the local area. Sign up to your town or borough’s Freecycle group and you’ll receive email digests from your neighbours.

Of course, most of the time it’ll be people giving away power cords and leaflets, but every now and then there’ll be a genuine find.

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