Another new record from East Coast Park: a clam
on the wild shores of singapore blog
TeamSeagrass Orientation
looking to the future and sharing thoughts about being on the team on the teamseagrass blog
Butterfly of the Month: The Common BlueBottle
on the Butterflies of Singapore blog
Little Grebe: Piggybacking chicks
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog
Shadows Of Their Former Glory
a reef on the Caribbean on the Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets blog
Maria Siow, Channel NewsAsia 27 Sep 08;
TIANJIN: With initial progress underway at the China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City project, Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong says what needs to be done is for policy measures to be either tweaked or put in place.
While saying that Singapore had chosen the right site for the bilateral flagship project, Mr Goh acknowledged that the challenge right now lies in attracting investors.
Mr Goh said his visit to the Tianjin Eco-City site allowed him to visualize what the area would soon look like - a place where residents enjoy a good and leisurely lifestyle, alongside vibrant economic activities such as financial services, research and development, and education.
Mr Goh said he is overwhelmed by the scale of China's vision, the boldness and the determination of the Chinese in realizing the Tianjin Eco-City dream.
To get the project going, Mr Goh said what is important is to put in place incentives and remove restrictions.
He said, "There are three harmonies we're talking about, people with people, well we can achieve that. But people with environment, that's in fact the whole purpose of the eco-city, we can achieve that.
“So the challenge will be people and the economy... we have some ideas on how to attract the activities that we want, financial services, research and development, education, but in the end, can we attract them to come over here, that's the challenge for us."
Agreeing, Senior Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said the eco-city must have more than just a pro-environment living area.
She said, "I think increasingly the challenge is to be economically competitive as well. So I think it's now time to re-focus on the policy side of it, how to make this place attractive to investors, and to create jobs for the people here."
Turning the Tianjin Eco-City from dream to reality involves more than just the physical dimensions. It also involves the software of ensuring the city's long term sustainability and viability, and having endorsement from China's highest leadership might just be the extra touch that is needed to distinguish the Singapore flagship project from other similar eco-cities in China.
Mr Goh also attended the opening plenary session of the World Economic Forum.
At the session, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao noted that in view of the global financial crisis, China's greatest contribution to the global economy would be to ensure that it remains economically vibrant.
Turning to the recent milk powder scandal, Mr Wen said that China will revamp the country's entire food industry so as to ensure greater trust and credibility in Chinese products.
- CNA/yt
Top leaders from Singapore and Beijing break ground for eco-city
Tracy Quek, Straits Times 29 Sep 08;
TIANJIN: After 17 months of painstaking preparation and planning, Singapore and China yesterday began construction of their flagship eco-city, with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by top leaders from both countries.
Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao were at the event to launch the project, which both sides hope will show the way forward for other environmentally-friendly cities in China.
The two leaders, who first endorsed the bilateral venture last April in Beijing, were all smiles when they met for brief talks at the eco-city's administrative building before the ceremony.
'I remember that it was little more than a year ago when the idea was just brewing. From then to its implementation, the progress has been very fast,' said Mr Wen. The Chinese Premier, who signed a formal agreement setting the project in motion with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last November in Singapore, yesterday called the project a new highlight in bilateral ties.
The development of the city will be overseen by the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Company, a 50-50 joint venture between a Chinese consortium led by Tianjin TEDA Investment Holding Company and a Singapore group led by the Keppel Group.
In his address, Singapore's National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the project was 'timely and significant' coming at a time when 'the world faces serious challenges in balancing protection of the natural environment with the pursuit of economic growth'.
SM Goh and Mr Wen, along with senior officials including Tianjin party secretary Zhang Gaoli, the city's Mayor Huang Xingguo and Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Jiang Weixin - 'broke ground' with shovels as confetti rained on a specially constructed stage.
Work will now begin on the first 4 sq km plot, an area roughly the size of Jurong East Town in Singapore. The start-up area will be developed in three stages over the next three to five years.
And within 15 years, at a cost of around 50 billion yuan (S$10 billion), the eco-city will spread across a 30 sq km site. About 350,000 people will eventually live in the township, which is intended to show how eco-friendly living can be balanced with vibrant economic activity.
Speaking to reporters yesterday at the end of his five-day visit to China, SM Goh said the global financial crisis would not affect the construction of the project.
He disclosed, however, that he had asked Premier Wen to consider lifting restrictions on offshore loans for the project. This would make it easier to bring in, for example, potential partners from the Middle East, who 'may want to have their own funding from outside'.
Mr Goh said Mr Wen's presence at the ceremony showed the importance of the project to Beijing's top leaders at a time when the world is looking at the impact of China's growth on the environment.
'If China is being criticised for not taking into consideration the environment, China can point to one eco-city which it is embarking on, and later on to many other such cities,' added Mr Goh. Singapore, in turn, gains from stronger political ties.
And Mr Goh said there should be no fear of competition from other eco-city projects being built elsewhere in China, although he said the aim should still be to make this one the best. 'In the end are we special, and the most outstanding? I think let's try to do that,' he said.
Mr Goh left China for home yesterday.
About eco-city in northern China
Straits Times 28 Sep 08;
Area: 30 sq km at the northern end of Tianjin's Binhai New Area.
Time-frame: Developed over next 15 years to house 350,000.
Current work: Building begins on a 4 sq km start-up area to house 85,000 people.
Plan: Three stages over next three to five years starting with Stage One, a 110ha plot. Infrastructure to be completed late next year.
Features: Residences,a business park, schools, clinics, shopping malls, parks and a light rail.
Oversight: Joint venture, the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Company, will oversee overall development. Keppel Group heads the Singapore consortium.
The ‘intangibles’ that matter
Projects like these will help keep Singapore economy flying: SM
Lin Yanqin, Today Online 29 Sep 08;
FOR most Singaporeans, the transformation of this vast expanse of prawn farms and salt flats into a thriving green city may not mean much — but projects such as these in China are vital to Singapore’s future.
“For example, without embarking on such projects, I don’t think China will consider a Singapore-China FTA (free trade agreement),” said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, after the ground-breaking ceremony of the 50 billion yuan ($10.4 billion) Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city project with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
“There is already an Asean-China FTA ... Why should China pay attention to Singapore and sign a separate FTA?They have made concessions for Singapore because we are helping them in certain areas, so these are the intangibles leading to tangible results for Singapore.”
And building up this China wing stands us in good stead in times like these, with the global economy slowing and its financial markets in turmoil.
“We are, of course, affected, but not so terribly affected,” said Mr Goh. “China is not our only wing, we are also actively building up an Indian wing, because an aeroplane cannot fly on one wing alone. This is where we hope to keep Singapore’s economy flying.”
Wrapping up his five-day visit to China, the Senior Minister highlighted Mr Wen’s presence at the ceremony. “China is a very big place, to get the premier to come down for the ground-breaking for a 30-sq-km project ... shows the importance of the project to him and to the central government,” said Mr Goh, who had first raised the idea of an eco-city with Mr Wen 17 months ago and was visiting the site for the first time.
With the eco-city to develop over the next ten to 15 years, such projects give future Singapore leaders the chance at a sustained relationship with China,Mr Goh added.
A Middle-EastERN partner in Tianjin?
He was confident the market turbulence would not affect the long-term progress of the Tianjin project, as issues such as demand for office space would only arise five to 15 years down the road.
Mr Goh has suggested to Mr Wen that China open up to offshore financing.
“China is fearful of a flood of funds from the rest of the world and putting pressure on inflation,” he said.
“But we are trying to bring another partner,probably from the Middle East, into the project, and of course, these partners would like to offer equity financing plus perhaps loans. We are also thinking of some Islamic banking and financing for certain aspects of this project.”
In future, there could also be third-party developers on the land who would want to bring in their own funding from outside, he noted.
The Chinese were “very flexible”, he added, and the Tianjin government would put up a case for such offshore financing.
Did the three to five year development deadline for the Start-Up Area seem tight? Mr Goh said it was important to show “a beginning”, to keep interest going.
Like Mr Wen, he was amazed by the speed at which the eco-city has progressed.
Infrastructure for stage one of the Start-Up Area — which will have residences, offices, and amenities — is slated for completion by the end of next year.
The 2,000-odd residents of the land on which the eco-city will be built, will be relocated within the city where they can find jobs.
With Tianjin located in the Bohai region — earmarked by China as the next economic centre after Shenzhen and the Pudong New Area in Shanghai —Mr Goh was confident the eco-city was well placed for success.
Also present yesterday was National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, and Minister of State for National Development Lee Yi Shyan.
Shark fights in one of the world's biggest aquariums are threatening the opening celebrations of Dubai's flagship new mall.
Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph 26 Sep 08;
More than ten percent of the sharks in Dubai Aquarium's 10 million-litre aquarium have been killed in attacks that have marred the build-up to its grand opening on Oct 30.
Sand Tiger sharks have killed at least 40 smaller reef sharks and been aggressive towards divers working on final preparations in the giant tank.
The aquarium features the world's single largest school of sharks and the world's largest viewing platform. It is the centrepiece of the new 12 million sq ft Burj Dubai Mall.
Built to showcase one of the world's most diverse and exotic collections of marine animals, the aquarium is home to more than 33,000 living specimens.
A total of 85 species is represented, with over 400 sharks and rays considered the main attraction.
But the concentration of such a large number of sharks in a relatively small space has led to what some might have considered predictable problems for the Dubai Mall's management.
General manager Yousuf Al Ali admitted the world's most feared ocean predator had caused teething problems.
"It is inevitable that aquatic species die – sometimes out of natural causes or out of injuries inflicted by bigger fish species," he said.
"Sand Tiger sharks, by nature, are fish-eating. However, all sharks and other animals in the Dubai Aquarium & Discovery Centre at The Dubai Mall are currently on a monitored feeding schedule in order to subdue their naturally opportunistic behaviour and appetite."
Meanwhile divers carrying out tasks in the tank have also been attacked by the naturally aggressive sharks.
Several have had their equipment damaged and experienced minor injuries due to the behaviour of the sharks, according to UAE daily Khaleej Times.
Mr Ali said: "During the stages of setting up the aquarium, two cases of minor injuries were reported and were immediately attended to by the on-site medical team."
The aquarium features a 270-degree acrylic walkthrough tunnel designed to give shoppers close encounters with some of the most diverse marine life on the planet.
At this rate they might get ringside seats at the world's greatest shark fight.
The mall which will have more than 1,200 shops will house the world's largest gold market (Souk) with 220 retail stores and will be adjacent to a 12-hectare artificial lake.
There will also be two major department stores, 150 food and drink outlets and a 440,000 square ft fashion island.
The centre sits alongside the world's tallest building -- Burj Dubai which is 626 metres high.
Dubai Ice Rink, the world's largest indoor Gold Souk and The Grove, the region's first indoor-outdoor streetscape with a retractable roof.
It also has eight hotels.
Newport Aquarium Sends Sharks Overseas
local12.com 28 Sep 08;
The Newport Aquarium is packing up 11 nurse sharks and sending them overseas. The sharks are going to an aquarium in the largest mall in the world in Dubai.
All the animals were acquired from or donated by pet stores or home hobbyists who could no longer properly care for the sharks. Newport Aquarium officials have overseen the care of the animals for more than three years at its auxiliary warehouse location in Newport. The sharks were on display at one time at the Aquarium but were moved out to make room for other species.
The sharks will be shipped to the Dubai Aquarium at The Dubai Mall. It is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the world.
The sharks were put into eight large shipping containers and will travel to Chicago on two tractor trailers. Tomorrow, they'll be flown to Dubai, by way of Taiwan.
Usually light yellowish brown to dark brown, nurse sharks have flattened bodies and broad, rounded heads with two conspicuous barbels between the nostrils which are used to help find food. The mouth is filled with rows of small, serrated teeth for crushing hard-shelled prey.
Generally slow and sluggish, nurse sharks spend much of their time resting on the ocean's bottom. Because this shark can pump water over its gills, it does not need to swim in order to breathe. If it must move, the nurse shark may even use its large front (or pectoral) fins to "walk" along the ocean floor.
Female nurse sharks, averaging 7½ to 9 feet and 165 to 230 pounds, are slightly larger than their male counterparts. Nurse sharks are common in tropical and subtropical coastal waters on both sides of North America.
Nurse sharks are often found in the pet trade, although they quickly outgrow any but the largest hobbyist tank. It is important for amateur collectors to know how to properly care for this or any animal before purchasing.
Daily Express 27 Sep 08;
Kota Kinabalu: At least one resort here has started the ball rolling to prevent sharks being cruelly mutilated for their prized fins at sea.
In doing so, it has become the first tourism establishment in the State - and perhaps the nation - to implement a previous Federal Minister's call (Science, Technology and Environment Minster Datuk Azmi Khaled) to government agencies and departments to stop serving shark's fin soup at functions.
Gayana Eco Resort will refrain from serving shark fin soup at its recently-refurbished Alu Alu Seafood Restaurant.
"Killing sharks and throwing them away just for their fins is a despicable and shameful practice that must be stopped," said Nilakrisna James, spokesperson and PR Consultant for the resort.
Internationally renowned marine scientist and zoologist Dr Mabel Manjaji Matsumoto, in a dinner talk on "Sharks and Rays of Sabah" at the resort, Thursday, said some 100 million sharks are killed yearly for their fins.
Of the estimated 2,000 species of sharks and rays worldwide, it is believed that in Sabah alone there are 36 species of sharks and 42 species of stingray, with some of the latest species found in the Kinabatangan region.
The talk, which was organized by Gayana Eco Resort's Marine Ecology Research Centre (MERC) to create awareness of the marine biodiversity in Sabah and the threats to our unique and endangered marine life.
Meanwhile, Nilakrisna, who is also the Organising Chairman of Sabah Law Association's Sub-committee on Environment and Climate Change, suggested that the Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) give the public more insight into threats to Sabah's marine life through the media.
"The BMRI at UMS should also be allowed to participate more proactively in the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life committee under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment. We are aware of threats to terrestrial life forms as a result of development and plantations but more must be known of the threats to the aquatic life forms which for the most part are just as rare and endangered," she said.
She hoped the Education Department would also hold such talks for school children "as habits such as consumption of shark's fins should be stopped early in life."
"The children who study in Sabah must understand and appreciate the gifts and unique biodiversity that we have here.
"The fact is we have at our doorstep the most incredible educational experience that you won't get anywhere else on earth. That puts us on par with developed nations and we should capitalize on this opportunity and be proud of it."
Director of MERC, Alvin Wong, was satisfied with the good turn out, saying that in the past one would rarely see more than 20 persons at such talks. "With over 50 environmental enthusiasts at this talk, I am optimistic that the function MERC plays in this society will eventually bear fruit.
Propagation and restoration of life are at the heart of what we do at MERC but to achieve full awareness and success, there is a time factor in building up momentum," he said.
Set on its mission in achieving eco-certification, Gayana Eco Resort was recently declared by the Mayor as a "litter free resort" and announced its vision to be Asia's No.1 Luxury Eco Resort.
Gayana Eco Resort, first resort certified as litter free
The Borneo Post 27 Sep 08;
KOTA KINABALU: The City Hall has achieved another milestone in its Litter Free City campaign with the certification of Gayana Eco Resort as the first “Litter Free Resort” in the state.
The certification was presented by mayor Datuk Illiyas Ibrahim, who also presented the highest 5-Star Toilet rating certification to Alu Alu, a Chinese seafood restaurant, and Macac international dining restaurant.
City Hall has to date also certified Kg Cenderamata II Likas as Litter Free Village, St Francis Primary School and SMK Perempuan Likas as Litter Free Schools, HSBC as Litter Free Bank and City Hall as Litter Free Office.
Illiyas said since the launch of Grand Scale Anti Litter Campaign in May, the campaign had seen ‘very positive results with endless cleanliness campaigns’ both on mainland and at sea.
“The level of cleanliness in Kota Kinabalu City has greatly improved and the City is far cleaner than it was before the campaign,” he said, during the Certification of “Litter Free Resort” and “5-Star Toilet” Status at Gayana Eco Resort here yesterday.
Illiyas added that the resort also aimed to get an “eco-certification’, working on its composting programme as well as setting up its recycling program with the help of DBKK and the Buddhist Tzu Chi Merit society.
“It is our hope that every resorts in the City and every other establishments would come forward and support us to rid the City from habit of littering,” he said.
Also present were DBKK director-general Datuk Dr Chua Kim Hing and Gayana Eco Resort general manager Scot Toon.
Illiyas also said that DBKK also organised a one-month Toilet Cleanliness Campaign at their office beginning September 17 to October 17, to transform the mindset of City Hall’s office staff about toilet cleanliness.
Yahoo News 27 Sep 08;
A farmer who caused an outcry after faking a photo of an endangered South China tiger was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on Saturday, state media reported.
Zhou Zhenglong, 54, was convicted of fraud at a court in north China's Shaanxi province, and was also fined 2,000 yuan (300 dollars), Xinhua news agency said.
Zhou said he took the photo of the rare animal in October last year, stirring up much excitement in China as the tiger was thought to be nearly extinct in the wild.
He was awarded 20,000 yuan by the provincial forestry department for the feat, Xinhua said.
But experts subsequently revealed the snaps were fake after doubts began to emerge online about their veracity, as some netizens found an old poster with a photo of a tiger which looked like Zhou's picture, Xinhua said.
Police later arrested him after finding an old tiger poster that Zhou allegedly borrowed from a farmer in another village last September to produce his photos, the agency reported.
They also found a wooden model of a tiger claw that Zhou allegedly used to replicate the paw print of a South China tiger on snow, Xinhua said.
The last wild South China tiger sighting was recorded in 1964.
Experts believe no more than 20 to 30 of the big cats remain in the wild, and none has been spotted in decades.
The animal, whose traditional range is southern and central China, is one of six remaining tiger subspecies.
Three other subspecies, the Bali, Java, and Caspian tigers, have all become extinct since the 1940s, according to the US-based Save The Tiger Fund.
Yahoo News 26 Sep 08;
Canada will ban the export of tar-like bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to countries that don't match Canadian targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"We are imposing regulations on the oil sands to achieve important environmental targets for this country," said Harper at a press briefing on Friday, adding that Canada will not allow the emission target to be avoided "by exporting to countries that do not impose sufficient environmental standards.
"We think that's environmentally responsible," said Harper.
The United States is the largest consumer of bitumen from the oil sands in Alberta, the western Canadian province that holds 173 billion barrels of the oil source in its reserves.
Harper's promise is likely to have no impact on bitumen exports to the United States, said Environment Minister John Baird, but could affect the construction of a major pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific coast to feed the Asian market.
Questioned on whether the emission target proposal would have an impact on future bitumen exports to Asian countries, Harper replied: "Well, it could. It absolutely could."
The prime minister refused to name the countries most likely to be affected by his pledge, but according to analysts China would be affected more than others because it imports more of the oil source than any other Asian nation.
Canada will not meet targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, but Harper has pledged to reduce Canada's emissions by 20 percent by 2020, a target deemed inadequate by Harper's critics and environmentalists.
An estimated 500,000 of the 1.3 million barrels of bitumen produced in Alberta each day are exported before they are transformed into crude oil.
Oil production in Alberta, an industry that generates a significant amount of greenhouse gases, is projected to triple by 2015.
Canada PM Oil Sands Plan Puzzles Industry, Greens
Jeffrey Jones, PlanetArk 29 Sep 08;
CALGARY, Alberta - Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday he would ban exports of tar-like bitumen from Alberta's oil sands to countries that do not match Canadian efforts to cut carbon emissions, a campaign promise that perplexed both the oil industry and environmentalists.
The policy could affect Asian countries that are the target of a proposed Enbridge Inc pipeline that would move oil sands-derived crude to Canada's West Coast to be shipped across the Pacific Ocean by tanker, Harper said.
He announced the move at a campaign stop ahead of the Oct. 14 general election as a away to prevent companies from avoiding Canadian emission standards, he said.
Asked by reporters if it could affect future bitumen exports to Asia, he said: "Well, it could, it absolutely could."
The ban would not affect existing contracts, all of which involve supply agreements with US refineries, he said.
Enbridge's planned C$4.2 billion (US$4.1 billion) Gateway line would take 400,000 barrels a day of oil sands crude. The initiative is being driven by interest from refineries in such countries as Singapore and Japan, the company has said.
Harper's plan surprised Enbridge, and the firm has yet to determine its impact, spokesman Steven Greenaway said.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the oil industry's main lobby group, said it too was still trying to make sense of the ban in the absence of many details.
The Conservatives did not say how close to achieving promised emission cuts any country must be to avoid the ban, or which countries were most at risk at being denied oil.
Canada's oil sands are the largest oil reserves outside of Saudi Arabia. Producers plan to spend C$100 billion exploiting the carbon-intensive resource and output is expected to nearly triple to 2.8 million barrels a day by 2015.
Federal Environment Minister John Baird and Industry Minister Jim Prentice said the proposal was unlikely to affect bitumen shipments to the United States since both presidential candidates have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
"I think it's clear that the United States is moving gradually toward a similar policy to our policy with respect to greenhouse gas emissions," Prentice said.
Harper's Conservative government has said it aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2007 levels by 2020.
Environmentalists, who criticize the government for not being nearly tough enough on industrial emitters, were unimpressed by the bitumen plan.
"If Harper really cared about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the tar sands, then he would be talking about actually reducing the greenhouse gas emissions coming from the tar sands rather than just selecting which country they will come from," Greenpeace campaigner Mike Hudema said.
New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, who wants a moratorium on oil sands expansion, called it "absurd" for Harper to complain about emission rules in other countries.
"He doesn't have limits on carbon emissions in Canada," Layton told reporters in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The issue of raw bitumen exports is already controversial in Alberta, whose own government has called for more plants at home to upgrade the gooey crude into refinery-ready light oil.
Promoting more upgrading within Alberta would create jobs in the province, Harper said.
However, some upgrading plants have already been delayed or shelved due to spiraling costs and a tight labor supply.
Companies, including EnCana Corp and Husky Energy Inc have struck deals to export raw bitumen to US refineries, where upgrading costs are lower.
(US$1=$1.03 Canadian) (Additional reporting by Scott Haggett and Allan Dowd; editing by Rob Wilson)
From baby gear to bedlinen, meet the people who have found treasure in other people's trash
Anna Shepard, The Times 27 Sep 08;
If you haven't already come across Freecycle, the online recycling network - one of the biggest green initiatives of the past decade - it is a global network of message boards, with more than 450 groups in the UK. The beauty of it is that it transforms one person's trash into another's treasure.
You sign up to your local group, where you can post messages to say what you're offering, or looking for. No money changes hands and it's up to the person who wants an item to collect it, so you don't have to stress about how you're going to heave an unwanted futon out of your home.
In these financially worrying times, it makes sense to trade household items with neighbours rather than buying them new. Freecycle has become a valuable way of acquiring things you want (without spending any money) and getting rid of those you don't (without sending them to landfill).
Set up five years ago by Deron Beal, an American eco-activist who wanted to reduce the number of abandoned white goods in his home state of Arizona, the site has six million members across the world, and attracts 2,000 new ones every day. In the past year, membership in the UK has more than doubled to 1.2 million. Mostly, it is furniture, clothing and household appliances that are up for grabs, but you also find the odd peculiarity. Giant African Land Snails found their way on to my forum - offered because their owner didn't have space for them. As with any community there are questions of etiquette, and not all groups are the same, as John Naish discovers (see below), but fans of Freecycle never fail to mention the feelgood factor. When I ask for feedback from members, it surprises me that so many people get in touch to point out that giving something away for nothing makes them feel great.
“People are so pleased with their acquisition that they often write a thankyou note or even drop off a present,” says one. With so many of us feeling that we are missing out on a community in the traditional sense, it appears that this online forum serves just as well.
It's heaven for that dying breed - people who fix things”
- Anna Shepard, Eco-worrier
Until I gathered up and counted the loot that I've obtained over the past few years of Freecycling, I always assumed that I used the network to give away belongings rather than to acquire new ones. That's the line I've stuck to with my minimalist boyfriend. But it's not true. Pot plants, a drum and an astonishing number of cushions (pictured above) have all been collected and absorbed into our small flat. Unlike some people, I've never felt the need to tell a sob story to be sure that the person offering them chooses me as the recipient. Perhaps I'm lucky to go after bits and pieces that no else wants - an ornamental cat with a po-faced expression, for example. But I always offer to pick up the goods promptly and try to be friendly in the e-mail, without being creepy. That said, the most useful experience I've had was getting rid of a dozen heavy patio slabs languishing in our garden. A woman popped round with a beefy builder friend and he cleared them, two at a time, in ten minutes. Plus, I've passed off a broken Hoover and a set of fairy lights that had given up the ghost, amazed that anyone would want them. But Freecycle is heaven for that dying breed, people who fix things.
“It's down to trust”
- Catherine Dean, new mum
The 31-year-old lives in East London with her husband James and three-month-old daughter, Lauren (pictured). She joined her local Freecycle network three years ago, but it wasn't until she was pregnant that she realised how useful it could be. “Going round John Lewis I was amazed how much money you can spend on baby stuff that you use for only a short time.” According to Amex, parents in the UK spend on average £3,000 in the first year on their first baby.
Dean put up a message on her local forum asking if anyone had anything going spare. “One woman loaded us with stuff,” she says. “She said she had some baby clothes, but she kept finding more things to give us. We ended up leaving with a high chair, a bouncy chair and a pram, as well as bags full of clothes.” From others, she picked up a baby bath, a Baby Bjorn sling, a Moses basket and a carry cot, saving her more than £500.
“When I explain to other people why Freecycle works so well, I'm not sure they get it ... There's no money involved; it's all on goodwill and trust. It restores your faith in humanity,” she says. Dean recently encouraged her mum, who lives in Bradford, to sign up. “She didn't believe she'd be able to get rid of her broken printer, but someone took it. That's the thing about Freecycle, no matter what you post up, there's usually someone who wants it.”
“Doesn't anyone want my unused microwave?”
- John Naish, Body&Soul writer
Brighton, being hippy Brighton, has more than 9,000 Freecyclers. Joining the group unleashed a thrice-daily torrent of offers and wants into my inbox. So I thought it would be a doddle to give away three excellent-condition but entirely surplus consumer items: “Microwave oven, hardly used; bedlinen sets for single bed: clean, as-new and some still in packaging, and a pair of garden-recliner cushions.”
The response was instant. Ten people rushed to baggsy the garden-recliner cushions. Some of them larded their requests with sad tales of hard-recliner woe. But no one wanted the microwave. Nor did anyone desire the bedlinen. For days they sat unwanted while happy throngs of Freecyclers collected tagines, beanbags and part-used candles from each other. Perhaps the linen and microwave weren't lifestyle enough. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that the linen had a floral pattern. But I'd felt compelled to be honest.
Finally, Clara got in touch and requested the sheets and cases. She was renting rooms for students in the summer and thought they might come in handy. I don't think she wanted them that much, though. It took eight days, and several reminders, for her to collect them. That was after she e-mailed me an incorrect home phone number that belonged to a remarkably short-tempered pensioner. The microwave went only after a fortnight's continued offering. Jo, who picked it up, said she had a barn that she sometimes rents to artist friends and she
thought that they might just like to heat up drinks and soups. Around the same time, a frustrated Freecycler called Myfanwy let out a wrenching cri de coeur on the swap-site: “Does no one want my computer monitor?” she asked. “I've posted it twice on Freecycle; the YMCA don't want it and the recyclers charge for it to be taken. Am I right in thinking it's impossible to get rid of a non-flatscreen computer monitor these days, except at the tip?” The conundrum put Myfanwy into a philosophical mood: “Times have changed, eh?” she sighed. “It seems to me that ten years ago Freecycle wouldn't have worked because people wouldn't have given stuff away for nothing. Now it's on the brink of not working again because everyone's overwhelmed by the sheer bulk of their belongings, and if they want something new they can usually go out and buy it, which is not necessarily the ideal we might have thought it was a decade ago.”
“I discovered how friendly the neighbours are”
- Erica Wagner, Times literary editor
Think Londoners are surly? I sometimes had that idea - but that was before I joined up with Freecycle. All right, I suppose I can speak only of the good folks of Hackney (my local group), but it's fair to say that a huge side benefit of de-junking my life has been discovering just how friendly my neighbours are.
Living in a not-so-spacious house, I am keen on getting rid of things (as my husband - often cross because I've put the newspapers in the recycling bin before he's read them - would tell you). Charity shops are inconvenient (far away, open only when I'm at work) and also somehow impersonal: where's your stuff (which you once, after all, loved) really going? Plus, they won't take the things that really take up space, such as strollers or bedframes or paving stones.
Answer? Freecycle! Log on to your local group and you will see, almost immediately, that one chap's junk is another's blessed discovery. Like the time I gave away the rucksack we'd carried my son in when he was 2 or 3 (he's 8 now), I was ever so pleased to learn that the fellow I handed it over to would be taking his little daughter up Welsh mountains with it - just as we'd done with Theo. You don't get that with a charity shop. Yes, the charities are deserving, but there are other ways to contribute. And I like to know that people have decided to make their own clothes (WANTED: sewing machine) or take up cycling (WANTED: bicycle helmets and locks) and believe - quite rightly, it turns out - that strangers are willing to help them achieve their goals. It makes the world seem a better place.
Sometimes, looking at the items offered, I've wondered if there could really be any takers for that (a stack of Time Outs from three years ago?), but with more than 10,000 users in my local group, you never know. I was startled to discover, just as my asthma started playing up again, that someone was offering a brand-new spacer and peak-flow meter; I'd lost mine. Now my breathing's back on track thanks to my doctor, but thanks to Freecycle, too.
How to get the most from Freecycle:
I'm struggling to register
Just google Freecycle and type in your local area (Anna Shepard writes). You then have to sign up to Yahoo for an e-mail address. This is done on the same website. Having chosen your address, you search for your area again. Before you join you are asked how many e-mails a day you would like to receive from the group. New members are vetted by volunteers (called moderators). If they think you're only after free loot, you might get turned down, so mention how much you want to give things away.
Help! I'm receiving hundreds of e-mails a day
Change your settings. Once you've registered, every time you log on, you'll go to a page where you can edit your membership, which includes a section called message delivery. You can receive “individual e-mails”; “daily digests”; or there's a “web-only” setting, which means you won't be sent any e-mails at all, although you can check the forum on the web whenever you want.
Who should I give my stuff to?
If hundreds of people reply to say they want your ancient microwave, you'll have to find your own way of choosing the lucky new owner. Most worthy? Speediest to collect? Or first-come-first-serve.
What if someone resells my stuff?
It's tempting to feel furious because they are making money when you couldn't be bothered, but in green terms, at least the stuff is not going to landfill.
What if I end up with something I don't want?
I make sure that I always have an excuse up my sleeve, along the lines of “What a shame! It's too small for my living room”.
Is it safe?
If you're worried, take a friend or make sure someone is with you at home if a member is coming to collect something.
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