Welcome Freecyclers? Or, er, not.

I was hoping we might be welcoming a few London Freecyclers to this site, as I posted a comment on the London Freecycle group this evening offering Swopaplot’s services. I’d been thinking the motives of Swopaplot and Freecycle were mutually compatible, and that Freecyclers might welcome the invitation to come and participate in Swopaplot…

But it seems that an overzealous moderator has immediately banned me from Freecycle without explanation, despite Freecycle’s stated “two strikes and you’re out” policy. I had hoped I wasn’t too badly in breach of the Freecycle house rules, but they don’t appear to have seen it that way. My wife just told me I should probably have posted it in the Freecycle Cafe, not the main posting list, as it was a bit off topic. They may have objected to the post as Swopaplot might count as “trading”, which isn’t allowed within the bounds of Freecycle. On reflection perhaps that is the case, although what was being offered was the opportunity to get involved in setting up a free service, not any specific trade.

Oops. It seems I’ve upset somebody. Sorry folks. Maybe I’m just being soft, but perhaps rejecting the propsed post with a short but polite email and a referral back to the terms of Freecycle might have seemed a more civilised thing to do, rather than a summary total ban after one attempted, enthusiastic if possibly ill-judged post; after all, wasn’t it enthusiasm that got Freecycle started in the first place? And there I was thinking people were allowed to make mistakes occasionally.

As Jack Nicholson once said just before the Martians got him, why can’t we all just get along?

In spite of this little disagreement, I would heartily recommend Freecycle to anyone who wants to get rid of any physical stuff that might otherwise end up in landfill. Anyone with any old gardening equipment that’s no longer needed, Freecycle’s your place. (And if you’re after any old used tools etc you might be able to help somebody out and pick some up there too – but be sure to offer something to the community first – otherwise you might just get yourself banned…)

So what is Swopaplot then?

It seems there are actually some people reading this. Hello! And thanks for being interested.

And it looks like you may have been trawling this site looking for clues as to what’s the point of all of this. Apologies for that.

OK, now I’ve got your attention. I’ll be positing a “Swopaplot Manifesto” page in the About section very soon, but the basic idea is this:

If you live in London and have a garden you’re not making full use of, or if you know someone in that situation who’s happy for you to represent them, you’ll be able to use Swopaplot to find somebody to help you make better use of your land. You might quite like it if some of it was used to grow some vegetables, or if it was a bit tidier, or planted differently.

If you live in London and you would love to grow things but you haven’t got a garden, you’ll be able to use Swopaplot to find someone living near you who has about the right size of unused garden and would like to do the same things with it you would, or wouldn’t mind you using it at any rate, but doesn’t have the time, the ability or the inclination to do the gardening.

So the idea is to match up gardeners and gardens. There are a lot of people out there on waiting lists for allotments. There are also a lot of underutilised gardens. You’re just asking to be brought together. And swopaplot.com is where that’s going to be able to happen.

Ideas that have occurred to me so far are that we could have a “before and after” section where you’ll be able to post pictures of your gardening successes, and forum areas for sharing your experiences. There can be links to useful gardening sites and relevant online communities. As swopaplot.com will be a growing community (and a growing community!) hopefully there’ll be more ideas from you.

Of course although this is an exciting prospect there are some quite serious challenges. We’ll be developing some form of simple suggested contract to help people who meet via swopaplot to agree ground rules (if you’ll pardon the pun) – such as what type of access is required and provided and when, who pays for what, who provides tools and who provides storage, what use the garden is put to, who is responsible for safety issues, how you divide the spoils of your land+labour adventures etc. Any contract entered into would be between the individuals concerned and would be down to them to negotiate, but hopefully Swopaplot would be able to help point you in the right direction to protect your interests and keep you safe.

We’ll also need to get advice on personal safety issues, as it’s important that both garden owners and gardeners feel safe when meeting new people and potentially giving them access to parts of their homes. It would be very sad if an initiative intended to bring people together was to be abused, and I would hope that it never was, but we would need to take such a possibility seriously and encourage community members to take an active interest in their own safety.

But I wouldn’t want to let concerns overshadow the real possibilities that Swopaplot could open up – to bring neighbours together, to bridge generation gaps, to grow more local produce and to help London get a little bit greener.

The site’s not built yet. This blog is here as a record of the development process, and to let the people who want to use the site contribute to its development. It’s about gardening – so what better way to grow the site than organically?

What do you think? Are you interested? Excited? Do you have any requests or suggestions? Do you want to help out?

Do you dig it?

Let me know!

Love
– Chris

Digging for swopaplotters

Do you wish it was easier to get an allotment in London? Have you been stuck on a waiting list for years? Do you wish you had more time to do your garden and secretly feel guilty about it? Would you love to grow veggies and fruit and flowers but live in a 4th floor flat with 6 square feet of balcony? Does a flat with 6 square feet of balcony sound like the ultimate in gardening luxury? Do you have an elderly or disabled friend, neighbour or relative who would love to sort out their neglected garden but can’t do it themselves and can’t afford a gardener? Are you too busy with your job or your house or your friends or your kids to weed your garden? Do you wish that you knew your neighbours better? Do you fancy getting a bit of fresh air? A bit of exercise? Do you think it’d be nice if London was a little bit greener? Or any city for that matter…

Maybe we can help each other out. I’ve got an idea that might be worth considering – and it won’t cost you a penny! Get in touch – leave a comment here or email me – chris AT swopaplot DOT com – and let’s talk about it.