New local tool and equipment sharing scheme

Buying new tools, especially power tools, means lots of energy used in manufacturing these. Each time a tool or piece of equipment is made energy is used, yet we probably don't use the tools enough in each household to wear them out before they rust or otherwise become unsable. So it is better to borrow what you need from somebody else and they can borrow what you have.

Photo: a photo from friend Charles Roffey who has the most amazing selections of photos of his travels here and blog here.

Sharing tools we already have, which generally rust or become obsolete without seeing a decent amount of individual use, would be a good step towards energy reduction. Hence one of Transition Strouds' latest projects is a tool and equipment share..

If you are local please add your offerings to the toolshare and equipment share pages of the wiki website - and if you don't own any tools or equipment remember you can borrow from here. For each tool you are prepared to share, please give brief details, your name, where you live and your phone number. You can negotiate details of payment for maintenance or fuel when somebody rings you up.

This is a kind of extension of freecycling and similarly reduces new consumption and replaces it with sharing.

"Everyone in the U.S throws away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet."

"Incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates 1 job, land filling the same amount creates 6 jobs, recycling the same 10,000 tons creates 36 jobs."

"When you recycle one glass bottle, you save the amount of energy needed to light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours."

Freecycling

Infact if you haven't come across freecycling - then take a look at the UK site here with it's links for Gloucestershire. Stroud already has 1936 members while Cheltenham 2763 members, Forest of Dean 711, Gloucester City 2178, North Cotswold 767 and Tewkesbury 739 members.

As they say on the website: "The Freecycle Network™ is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by clicking on the region on the left. You may then go directly to your local group by clicking on "Go To" or you may immediately join by clicking on "Join." The Freecycle Network was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson's downtown and help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. The Network provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items. One person's trash can truly be another's treasure!

When you want to find a new home for something -- whether it's a chair, a fax machine, piano, or an old door -- you simply send an e-mail offering it to members of the local Freecycle group. Or, maybe you're looking to acquire something yourself. Simply respond to a member's offer, and you just might get it. After that, it's up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure. Our main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

Grassroots at its best!