forwardone
09-16-09, 11:20 AM
UK branches of Freecycle are breaking away from US founders after a dispute over management of their local web pages
Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/) is for giving away things you don't need through the web so they don't go to landfill. Now the UK arm of the scheme is about to be trashed by the very people who run it because of a rift with the US founders.
It's expected that tomorrow, hundreds of local Freecycle branches across the UK will declare an orchestrated independence from their American parents.
The acrimonious split follows unsatisfactory negotiations which could have given Freecycle's UK moderators the ability to localise their web pages and allow them to serve the community better. For example, a moderator for one local branch was not allowed to ask a moderator from a neighbouring locality to act as locum while they go on holiday. Ideas on the ground, such as a Freecycle bay at the local tip, were ruled out.
The UK is probably the most enthusiastic Freecycling country in the world, hosting just 10% of all the branches but handling 27% of all Freecycling activities.
Anyone can join a local group for free and post a notice offering to give something away. Branch moderators screen every notice. Established members can also post requests for stuff they want. No money changes hands and goods that might otherwise end up at the tip get a new life.
I've used it to find loving homes for an MP3 player, seven pairs of roof-racks and an ugly little table. Like the best jumble sales, I've also come away with a few things that seemed like a good idea at the time, including a box of pickling jars.
There were 510 Freecycle branches across Britain moderated by local UK residents, but in the last two weeks control has been removed from a few dissenters at a time by the Freecycle Network "hub" in the US. This process takes a few days, so there have been four or five branches offline at a time until new moderators - not always based in the UK - are installed.
The moderators of the Brighton branch, which had more than 17,000 members, were among the first to jump ship and start up on their own. In emails to all members, they announced they were setting up their own service and inviting everyone to join it.
Called GreenCycleSussex, it uses the free web service offered by Yahoo Groups. Their decision leaves Freecycle Brighton without a local moderator to supervise the publishing of messages.
Guardian.co.uk
Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/) is for giving away things you don't need through the web so they don't go to landfill. Now the UK arm of the scheme is about to be trashed by the very people who run it because of a rift with the US founders.
It's expected that tomorrow, hundreds of local Freecycle branches across the UK will declare an orchestrated independence from their American parents.
The acrimonious split follows unsatisfactory negotiations which could have given Freecycle's UK moderators the ability to localise their web pages and allow them to serve the community better. For example, a moderator for one local branch was not allowed to ask a moderator from a neighbouring locality to act as locum while they go on holiday. Ideas on the ground, such as a Freecycle bay at the local tip, were ruled out.
The UK is probably the most enthusiastic Freecycling country in the world, hosting just 10% of all the branches but handling 27% of all Freecycling activities.
Anyone can join a local group for free and post a notice offering to give something away. Branch moderators screen every notice. Established members can also post requests for stuff they want. No money changes hands and goods that might otherwise end up at the tip get a new life.
I've used it to find loving homes for an MP3 player, seven pairs of roof-racks and an ugly little table. Like the best jumble sales, I've also come away with a few things that seemed like a good idea at the time, including a box of pickling jars.
There were 510 Freecycle branches across Britain moderated by local UK residents, but in the last two weeks control has been removed from a few dissenters at a time by the Freecycle Network "hub" in the US. This process takes a few days, so there have been four or five branches offline at a time until new moderators - not always based in the UK - are installed.
The moderators of the Brighton branch, which had more than 17,000 members, were among the first to jump ship and start up on their own. In emails to all members, they announced they were setting up their own service and inviting everyone to join it.
Called GreenCycleSussex, it uses the free web service offered by Yahoo Groups. Their decision leaves Freecycle Brighton without a local moderator to supervise the publishing of messages.
Guardian.co.uk