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Sunday, September 18, 2005

Freecycle Petaling Jaya

Good news. A moderator of the Petaling Jaya freecycle group is now trying to activate the dormant group. Below is pasted the invitation:

This is an invitation to join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_pj

The Freecycle Network, Malaysia, where one person's trash is another's treasure! We are "changing the world one gift at a time". This group is primarily for the inhabitants of Petaling Jaya. Our goal is to reduce waste by connecting people who are throwing away unwanted items with others seeking the same items. No item is too big or too small; but since this is a FREEcycle list, ALL items must be 100% free, legal appropriate for all ages.

Freecycle lies somewhere between the garage sale and the dump, and is much cooler than either. It's an innovative concept that harnesses the power of the Internet to do what the Internet does best -- eliminate the middleman and empower the individual. Freecycle allows for personal contact between donor and recipient -- each gets exactly what they want, and nobody is considered a 'charity case.' Many members both give and receive items on a regular basis. No overhead, no intermediaries, no money changing hands, no waste and no catch, and everyone's happy. Charities and NGOs may also post their needs here.

Use Freecycle to organise and DE CLUTTER.

Freecycle. One simple, brilliant idea that's changing the world one gift at a time.

Associated groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_malaysia
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_kl
http://freecycle.org

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Save the environment for future generations

In today's Star, a very gratifying exhortation from our Segambut Member of Parliment Datuk Dr. Tan Kee Kwong: "What is important is that we ask ourselves what kind of world we wish our childen, grandchildren or great-grandchildren will live in."

He also cited a Taiwanese Deputy Minister who said: "In the heat of our industrialisation process we (Taiwan) had sacrificed our environment. Your country (Malaysia) still has a lot of trees and rivers. Do not make the same mistake we have made in Taiwan."

Datuk Dr. Tan also said that as one who is concerned about the environment, he would insist that his maid do not throw away anything that could be recycled and he hoped that others would do the same and practise recycling at home. Anybody knows how to contact our DatuK?

Saturday, January 08, 2005

Freecycle International

freecycle.org has set up some rules for freecycle groups, some flexible, some more rigid than others. This flexibility is highly appreciated and give local moderators some leeway to structure their groups according to local situations. There seem to be a rule/guideline that says items OFFERed should involve should be items that help divert things away from dumpsites? So items like free gmail account, software, services are a no no as these are not physical things.

Over at Malaysia Freecycle Network, we have had offers of gmail accounts, an interesting variant of Chinese chess software, CD, even free advice (partly in fun and fully serious and RELEVANT to freecycle). Someone even posted a WANTED message for malabar spinach berries/seeds. All these can easily be shipped, downloaded or read from anywhere in this whole wide world, and definately can be beneficial to members. So, why restrict them? Members are off course into freecycle because of the noble motivation of wanting to divert things from dumpsites, helping the environment, helping others. So what is wrong with occassionally benefiting from our frecycle activities occasionally, and having some fun in the meantime? Do we want to be dour, rigid, fun killing, repulsive freecycle people?

Since idle chatter is also discouraged in freecycle groups, we think it is a good idea to set up a blog for people read what others think, to empty their thoughts, influence the direction our groups are going, etc. So here it is folks:

http://freecycleinternational.blogspot.com

Comments have been enabled, even for anonymous commentors, so if you so decide, you can choose to not register/log in. You can easily click on the [comment] button and leave us your thoughts. We are not worried about inappropriate comments as comments that are pornographic, irrevelavant, etc. can easily be deleted so as to not offend visitors.

Cikgu

Saturday, January 01, 2005

Health and freecycle

In Saturday's Star Weekend Saturday 1 January 2005, an article "Keeping healthy without drama" by Jull Foster, there were 50 tips for small changes for a healthy New Year. One of them:

CLEAR out the clutter in your home. This frees you from problems in your past which are hanging on you and allows exciting new projects to come into your life.

Cikgu agree and says, "Use freecycle to clear our your clutter in your home."

Link from charityportal.org.my

We were listed in a Community Service Project by the Kiwanis Club of Kuala Lumpur -
http://www.charityportal.org.my/section.cfm?id=20

I liked that statement very much: "Support them and you are supporting yourself and your children's future."

Thank you, Kiwanis Club of Kuala Lumpur.

http://www.charityportal.org.my/section.cfm?id=20

Freecyling in Malaysia and around the world

FREECYCLE: CHANGING THE WORLD,
ONE GIFT AT A TIME!

MALAYSIA, South East Asia --The Malaysia Freecycle Network (MFN) encourages all Malaysian residents to reduce, reuse, recycle, and FREECYCLE.

Based on the old adage that "one person's trash is another person's treasure", MFN's goal is to reduce the flow of trash into our landfills by connecting people who want to get rid of unwanted "stuff" with those frugal people looking for free "stuff".

Anyone looking to give away or acquire an item is welcome at MFN, where all items listed are absolutely free! MFN welcomes charitable organizations to post their needs, giving confidence to a donor that the item is actually needed locally, and is not going to just collect dust on a thrift store shelf.

The Malaysia Freecycle Network was established December 12, 2004 and by today has a little more than 200 members

MFN is hosted on Yahoo!Groups. Signing up is simple. Instructions are available on the Malaysia Freecycle Yahoo! page at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_malaysia

The Malaysia Freecycle Network was inspired by and is modeled after the Tucson Freecycle Network, founded in March 2003 and profiled on CNBC-TV on May 4th. Created by the non-profit group "Downtown Don't Waste It", the Tucson Freecycle Network has sparked a worldwide "freecycling" revolution.

Number of cities freecycling: 2,023
Number of people freecycling: 739,000
Number of countries freecycling: 42

The active Malaysian freecycle groups currently are

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_malaysia
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_kl

Other Malaysian Freecycle networks:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_selangor
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_negrisembilan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_melaka
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_johore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_pahang
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_trengganu
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_kelantan
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_kedah
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_perak
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_sarawak
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycle_sabah

These groups were formed for residents of Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, Johore, Pahang, Trengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Perak, Sarawak, Sabah to join even though there are currently very few members and are largely inactive. It is planned for people to join the Malaysian group as well as the local groups, and for the local groups to be activated when the membership has grown and/or when there is a local volunteer to act as moderator.

More added every day -- a totally grassroots/volunteer effort.
Not a single salary; 100% volunteer operated!

To see grassroots working at its best, visit the "freecycling" movement website at: http://www.freecycle.org. Recent Freecycle news is always available at: http://www.freecycle.org/news/

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Americans recycle approximately 28% of its garbage, thus keeping 64 million tons of waste out of landfills across the country. Similar statistics are unfortunately not available for Malaysia at present. Anyone has the statistics are encouraged to post them in the COMMENTS on this blog. Malaysian generate 18,000 tons of rubbish daily. Average amount per Malaysian per day is 0.8 kg, with the rate for urban dwellers higher at 1.5 kg. The Malaysia Freecycle Network would like to see Malaysia's rate of recycling exceed U.S. levels one day. Nothing is impossible. Some statistics from The Star Dec 19

Solid waste:

organic: 47%
paper: 15%
plastic: 14%
wood-based: 4%
metal: 4%
glass and ceramic: 3%
textile: 3%
others: 10%

We're making a BIG difference. Someone estimated that freecyclers have succeeded in keeping 33 tons a day; 12,045 tons per year of waste out of landfills.

Together, we can raise awareness, reduce waste, build a brighter tomorrow, and make an even BIGGER difference.

FREECYCLE - Supplemental / Background Information
========================================

LARGEST Freecycle
Portland, OR Freecycle
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycleportland/
13,000 members

MOST REMOTE Freecycle
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut Territories, Canada
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CambridgeBayFreecycle
http://snipurl.com/b6dk
Lat-Long: 69° 6' 28" -105° 8' 17"

Countries participating in Freecycle:
http://www.freecycle.org/display.php?region=International

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, UK, USA

Useful Contacts:

Deron Beal - "Founder" of the Freecycle idea, originally launched in Tucson, AZ in May/03.
(520) 791-2569
deron@rise-inc.org
info@freecycle.org

Recent FREECYCLE news:
http://www.freecycle.org/news/
============================

CBS Marketwatch: December 24th, 2004
"Forum recycles used items for free"
http://freecycle.org/archives/000431.php

USA Today; December 20, 2004
"Freecycle to the Rescue"
http://freecycle.org/archives/000428.php

Grist Magazine: December 7th, 2004
"Trash test dummies"
http://freecycle.org/archives/000433.php

Deron Beal; Freecycle Founder:
Named #1 of 50 heroes are making our planet a better place
ORGANIC STYLE ENVIRONMENTAL POWER LIST
http://freecycle.org/archives/000353.php
October 20, 2004

Psssst! Want a Used Snake
The Bulletin:
St. Lawrence and Downtown Toronto
http://freecycle.org/archives/000347.php
October 13, 2004

Ottawa CBC-TV evening news; April 22/04
Reduce, reuse, Freecycle
http://ottawa.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ot_freecycle20040423

ABC station; Chicago -- Trash To Treasures
September 28, 2004 — Finding new homes for your unwanted items has
never been easier. If you're ready to rid your home of clutter, don't
just dump it in the garbage. "Freecycle" it.

People Magazine, May 10th
50 Most Beautiful People issue
"Free for All"