Everyday we buy things that we don’t need or we only need for limited time. Sometimes, we don’t know that until we have them. Yet, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any use for anyone.
Throwing away things perfectly working things we don’t use is not a good option, we are creating mountains of garbage, donating them to charity is a nice option but sometimes is hard to chose the one that needs more that particular thing.
If you give to charity just about everything you don’t want, you increase the work they have to chose the things they need and you charge them with the duty to get rid of the things you had to.
In honor of Blog Action Day, today’s post will discuss what social web can do for our functional garbage.
While once, many people were disgusted by the idea of having a second hand product, happily these days this has even become a fashion trend in some milieus.
If you have fully functional things that other people may want, why not announce it on the web. Someone may come to your place and collect them, you don’t even have to get up from your chair before the doorbell rings (although I do recommend people to get up and do some exercise).
- If you are a blogger, why not announcing them on a side section (or even in a post, if your blog allows for it).
- If you have Myspace, Flickr, Facebook, Orkut, or any social network, why not announce them there.
- Even better, why not joining a social network dedicated to exchange stuff. FreeCycle, for instance is a social network in which can give your stuff away or get things you want absolutely for free. Pretty much like e-bay, but without any money involved.
- If you are an entrepreneur kind of guy or girl you can start a project of your own for an exchange niche that appeals you. Some girls in the UK started What Is Mine is Yours to allow for clothes exchange
9 Comments
I’m a huge fan of the whole FreeCycle concept, and it’s encouraging to read of creative enterprises like ‘What’s Mine Is Yours’ — that’s what brought recycling into the mainstream (here in Canada, at least): it was when people recognized that there were business opportunities to be had, not just “warm fuzzy” good feelings.
@Jen – It would be nice to believe that warm fuzzy feelings are enough to do what it has to be done, but attaching a business case to a warm fuzzy idea is a powerful way to go
I just loved this post! It’s good to see bloggers engaged to environmental causes.
I particulary loved the site “What’s mine is yours”. It’s a pitty I do not live in the UK… hope to find sites like this more often, everywhere.
The idea of swaping things is fantastic and I love second hand stuff, clothes and furniture. They can be very trendy and cool.
@Anna –
Lol, there is plenty of space to start a new project like this, locally in the Valley of the Valsugana
Sites like Freecycle and What’s mine is yours are only available in the US, no? We can’t find services like that in Malaysia, and I sure in a lot of other countries as well.
Do you, perhaps, have a solution or a suggestion that can be used/picked up by anybody at all, regardless of where they live in?
@pelf –
Hi Pelf. AFAIK, “What is Mine is Yours” is British, and freecycle is a platform for local groups around the world.
I’ve searched for a group in Malaysia
and found it. But if you need a local group for your city or your region, you can start it yourself.
I think this is an excellent and powerful idea. Bloggers are already highly decentralized – numerous – and if there’s widespread consensus amongst us about recycling, we could be a powerful force.
But the information issue seems to be one of matching donors to recipients – and for non-working items – donors to salvagers. I have one friend who takes discarded electronics apart for parts, and turns them into useful components.
Perhaps we need some combination of blogs and matching software – like Craigslist or Sahana.
@Jon Soroko – Hi, welcome to Zo’C.
I think you are right, the technological power we have at hands these days on the web is really big enough, there is too much going on.
What is lacking is to be able to connect the needs and the solutions that are already laying around.
One of the main problems we have apart from paper, bottles and general refuse, e-waste. Technology quickly becomes old but there is little productive ways to recycle them.
In fact only 21% of the nation recycle e-waste. Good job on the blog.
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