Between Help and Sustainability

A lot of good things go hand in hand with each other, such as flowers and spring, happiness and love. This week we’re excited to bring you a brand new challenge that, if you’re up for it, will definitely make a difference in your local area! 

• Create a group on facebook or any social media of your choice, based on helping others in an environmentally sustainable way!

Our inspiration came from a Portuguese group we found in social media called something along the lines of “I’ll give it if you come and get it (your city)”. In this time of crisis, unfortunately, there’s a vast amount of people looking for help, in need of food, clothes and other daily items that we might have and don’t need, or simply thinking of throwing away.

In this group, based in the city of Porto, there are over 50 thousand members, and yours might be the next one! Let’s go over some of the rules that makes it so successful so you can apply it to your own:

• Start by establishing that everyone is welcome, be it someone in need or not - we never know what life has in store for us regarding both sides of the coin, alas the bigger the community the merrier!

• Make sure that everyone understands that publicity is not allowed! A lot of businesses try to push their products everywhere they can, but not ”here”! This group should be a safe, monitorized online place for your community.

• Set in stone that it is absolutely forbidden to sell something from your group afterward it was given. If someone is caught in that scheme it should result in a ban!

• After a successful giveaway, those members should be mentioned in the commentary section; nor should the post be deleted, for future reference.

• As all communication should be made through the post, make sure that people know they shouldn’t private message the original poster without their permission.

(If your group ends up gaining popularity and reaching thousands, it might be a good idea to set it as a private group and make these the rules people must agree with before sending a request to join.)

As you know, at Garbags we thrive through upcycling, so this seems like the perfect way of stepping up our community's game. Let’s take the initiative and help each other with waste management, it’s simple and it brings people together for not only one, but two great humble causes: social and environmental!

Remember, our trash might be someone’s treasure! Are you up for the challenge? Oh, and don’t forget to share it with us afterwards!

We’ll see you next week!