Please support your LOCAL freecycling group

Here in Kidlington we are increasingly proud of our group. It starts, like all such groups in a small way, but is growing steadily. Many groups discourage members joining who do not live locally. That is not our policy.

We take the view that some people may wish to join our group because they work in the area, or even have relations who live here and perhaps those relations do not have access to the Internet.

Whatever the case we work hard to ensure that when an item is offered that both the person potentially taking that item and the offerer consider travel costs as part of the equation. There seems little point in spending a couple of pounds worth of petrol in a car, never mind the maintenance, and any associated ecology downsides such as carbon emissions, noise pollution etc if the item to be collected does not justify the journey.

If the journey is a "local" one then of course such issues pale into insignificance, and that is the main reason we ask people to add their location (a village name or the first 3 characters of your postcode) at the end of the subject.

This of course is only a guideline. Neither do we, nor do we wish to enforce this guideline. We leave it up to the offerer and the taker to decide in their own minds whether such issues are relevant and how important they are.

If you are concerned about travelling then we recommend you might also wish to consider joining other local groups. To the north we have Cherwell Valley group, to the south we have Oxford group, to the west we have the Witney group and to the east we have Bicester group.

Reflections over the River Cherwell

As the winter draws near and we have ever darkening skies I thought I would try to brighten us all up with a picture of the River Cherwell from the water meadows which I took over the summer whilst walking to Thrupp.

Will the lorries ever stop?

In my post Wasting our Countryside I reported that plans were afoot to turn the silo at the where the road between Oxford and Kidlington crosses the A34 (by the Water Eaton Park and Ride) into a waste recycling plant. You never get something for nothing in this life, and a Malcolm Baker of Long Hanborough has pointed to the increase in the number of lorries coming and going from that junction could rise by 372 per day. If that is the case that means almost one per minute, over say an 8 hour day. That figure is staggering and would turn the junction into a complete nightmare blockage of an already over-stressed part of Oxford's clogged up road system. (Malcolm, if you are reading this blog then please can you verify the number of lorries etc.)

Privacy

In a day when the UK government has announced a very serious breach of privacy for half the UK population with names, bank account and national insurance details simply "lost" on a CD it should act as a reminder to each and every one of us to take care of our privacy on-line, and that includes freecycling groups. As of today I would like to institute a policy that any personal details, other than name, general location and email address will be removed from all posts by your owner-moderator team. If the details cannot be removed then the post will be deleted. In all cases the originator will be informed and asked to repost as necessary, without any personal data. By personal data we mean details about your family, your home, including telephone number and actual address. Of course for you to actively freecycle you needs must tell someone where you live. That is generally not a problem since it is a communication such as one you would do if you sold an item in a newspaper. You are only telling one individual in this instance, rather than the group. We will continue to look at this issue and if we find other ways of helping members maintain privacy then we will discuss, inform and amend our guidelines and processes.

Can you survive without buying anything for six months?

On MoneySavingExpert.com there is a report of a new reality TV show that might interest freecyclers. The core question asked by the programme is, can you survive for six or even twelve months without buying anything, except basics. == VOLUNTEERS FOR BBC TV PROGRAMME == This came in to the York Freecycle mailbox the other day. It sounds like a great opportunity. .. "I am recruiting potential volunteers for a television show in which people agree not to buy anything (except basic food, toiletries and medicine) for 6-12 months. The show will investigate shopping addiction, consumer culture, debt, and the impact of consumerism on the environment. The volunteers would be encouraged to barter, forage, or trade skills to procure the extra things they needed. The presenter, Robert Llewellyn (currently undergoing his own year of not buying anything), would serve as an encouragement to the volunteers, providing any support and resources needed. This show is not meant to be an exploitive journalistic piece about irresponsible people - it is meant to help people all over the UK by encouraging them to stop unnecessary spending. This show is my baby: I have always dreamed of re-starting a bartering culture/economy and helping the environment. I know it could have a really encouraging impact on the UK." Do you know of anyone specifically who might be interested in participating in this project? If so, contact Amanda.Graham@ bbc.co.uk

49% of BT customers love Branson

A recent poll of BT's business customers put Richard Branson clear ahead of other household names such as Alan Sugar as the South East's business icon.

Nag, nag, nag, nag...

Actually in this case NAG stands for Neighbourhood Action Group is is an opportunity for people interested in supporting their community actively. Anyway we here in Kidlington have the proud title of being group 6! Wow. If you want to get involved then check our the relevant page on the Cherwell District website.

What happens to freecycle items when no-one wants them anymore?

I remember many years ago taking an extremely well used though now old and battered suitcase to a dump and before we knew what was happening some needy looking person picked it up and said that was exactly what they were looking for. In essence freecycling extends to life of an item, preventing it reaching the dump before its due date. When an item is not good for one person it goes to the next person. This person may either be adept at fixing issues with the item or able to reuse the item in a new way, or simply what were issues to you are not so to them. But right now there is a huge problem facing the world. That if digital TV, HDTV to be precise. We are all being told to "go digital", and in that same breath there is a complete hush around what happens to our old obsolete TV. An initiative is now gaining momentum to force manufacturers to be part of the recycling process. Visit TakeBackMyTV and see if this is where you want your old TV to end up. This scheme is focusing on the US but perhaps the same issues are relevant here in the UK. Right now Sony has signed the pledge to take old TVs back, so if you have a defunct Sony TV make sure they honour that pledge. Whatever the truth, I feel that all freecyclers should be aware of the full life-cycle implications and think about what happens to items when there are no takers.

What neither goes up, nor down?

Well if you're narrowboat is located in Kidlington then that's what. At least that is the case according to this blogger.

Weekly or fortnightly, that is the question

Close the the centre of Oxford residents have continually been up in arms about the change from weekly to fortnightly collections (or to be more precise alternate weekly). Whether people are recycling efficiently enough or whether such a thing will save them from rats is not an issue when you have sufficient land to store a range of wheelie bins, but in some parts of Oxford space is at a premium. Anyway a year on from the change residents are still battling for solutions as demonstrated by this thread on the Oxford Mail website - recycling one year on. In fact another entry starts by implying all is good, when in fact the opposite seems to be still the case for at least some. Much as I for one love the new system, I feel that more needs to be done for those in confined neighbourhoods.

Remembrance Sunday Remembered

A local blogger looks back at her day remembering...

New look for our co-op

As part of the re-organisation of Kidlington's local co-op which primarily was an initiative to incorporate the travel shop into the same building the new layout for the store looks good and certainly they seem to have a larger and better range of fresh veg, including at last organic carrots. The extremely tired car park has had a fresh face lift with both new tarmac and a revised layout. The layout seems odd with so many spaces reserved for disabled users - let us hope they are used well. Strangely there does not seem to be a notice board up yet - perhaps that is coming soon, or is it hiding in a corner?

Christmas is surely coming - on the 4th December

Well, at least that is when Kidlington switches on its Christmas lights. Hope to see you there.

Open EcoHouse Weekend across Oxfordshire

Around twenty five homes that have eco-friendly features are opening their doors over the weekend of 24-25th November. See the Ecovation website for further details.