Well, I have a background in IT having worked at Wolverhampton University up until my retirement.  I had to retire after actually quitting my job at the end of the year 2000.  This was firstly because I went over for an extended trip to Australia.  I came back with the thought of finding new work.  A couple of months later I was badly stricken with arthritis, which I knew I had but it suddenly got a lot worse.  So, since about April 2001 I have been unable to do any form of paid work.   However I have not been lazy :-)

A couple of years after being stricken with arthritis I joined a local Freecycle group.  A few months later I joined another and then, just a few months after that I was made a co-owner of a group.  Since that time I have been involved with many Freecycle groups both officially and unofficially (I was an official new group mentor for a while until the rules got in the way, grrrr).  I run two local Freecycle groups and am a silent owner on many more where I also advise on best practise.

Right now I'm actively seeking out new local community based recycling groups in the UK.  I'd like to see a proper publicly recognised recycling network based in the UK.  I don't really want to stop there though as I would like to see this network grow all around the world.  No rules amde by one single country but all countries working together while working purely for their own local communities.  Could it work?  I think so.  Freecycle (TM and R) started out with this premise but has now got bogged down with internal politics and dare I say a hint of misdirection due to certain people being in paid positions.  This is sad for me as I feel it is stifling the growth of Freecycle and in so doing stifling community recycling which I am passionate about.  Which is why I formed 'Freeworld-Recycling, a new and truly free comunity based recycling initiative.  Check us out at http://www.freeworld-recycling.org

I very much believe in sustainability wherever possible.  I am about the reuse of items that others may not want.  A chair may have a broken leg and be of no use as a chair any more, but, to another person that chair may be a toy train or a lamp or one of many other items that the wood can be turned into.  I hate to see this sort of thing ending up in landfill sites and going to waste :-(

That's me :)

Kevan

ps.  One more thing that will be highly controversial to many people reading this.  I do not believe that man has any effect on climate change.  I do not believe in man's so called carbon footprint.  I do fully believe that climate change will happen whatever we do and it's part of the natural cycle of nature and out planet.  If things get out of shape for mankind then it's nature just saying that it's time for ma to step aside to allow another species to dominate.