Redditch Standard - 11 November 2006

A REDDITCH recycling group has enticed 1,000 members to sign up since forming less than a year ago.

Organisers behind Redditch Freecycle, aimed at keeping usable waste items out of landfills, have been celebrating after the group hit the landmark number of members.

And due to the astonishing rate at which the group is growing, at 30 to 40 new recruits a week, organisers have launched a recycling forum - Redditch Freecycle Cafe - to run alongside the network.

The forum allows users to get to know each other, share information and announce local community events.

Set up back in January, Redditch Freecycle is part of the worldwide and rapidly expanding Freecycle Network, which matches people who have things they want to get rid of such as furniture, electrical goods, garden equipment or toys, with people who need them, via a website.

Andy Griffin of Redditch Freecycle said they were totally overwhelmed by the group's popularity, and the forum was the next step for further success.

"Just prior to forming ten months ago, we wondered if there would be any interest, but look at us now," he said.

"In the last month alone several hundred items have been saved from landfill.

"And as Redditch doesn't seem to have an on-line forum for general discussion, we hope the Redditch Freecycle cafe will fill this gap."

Mr Griffin also believes the new forum will be of help to residents with the new waste collection scheme currently being introduced by Redditch Borough Council.

"With this new system being introduced all across the town, our cafe provides the means to discuss teething problems and to help each other reduce our waste," he added.

The Freecycle Network began in Tuscon, Arizona, in May 2003, and is made up of 3,000 individual groups across the globe with over 2.5 million members.

Anyone wanting to sign up to Redditch Freecycle or Redditch Freecycle Cafe should visit www.freecycle.org

Taken from http://redditch.standardtoday.co.uk/news.tvt?_ticket=REH8Q2ERQGSGX237CAMAAQ6FBOKACK3URGQFIR0CANZFBMMBLKUHVQRFLZ9KMMTEDYLABHSI7SUEIOPNCNSEANYECGSGW45MHONCNV1DALOL6Z5FURUSNNNADYN1WKLAFURGUXSEIOUD9NTLDKLAIMRGUYVEIOQLP&_scope=Flow/Websites/Redditch/News&id=11818