Harnessing Surplus
http://www.globalhand.org/home
While on a delivery run for my nephew's courier business, I noted a large box of apples, offered for free, at the entrance to a house. Commenting on such a kind gesture, the owner of the property asked if I would like more. There was an abundance under her apple trees and she was not sure how to use them all.
Rapidly scrolling my memory for all possible friends who might appreciate them, I said, "Certainly". I had the space in the van and was soon on my way with a good supply of fresh, locally grown apples. Friends in London would, I know, appreciate them at their NGO headquarters. They would pulp them for creative use to make tasty apple crumble, apple pie etc throughout the coming months to be enjoyed at staff lunches.
Such instances popped up all over the place. They ranged from a room full of computers to a pile of brand new portable baby chairs. The comment usually was , "Do you know any folk who would like these?" Thinking through these offers and imaginatively projecting the idea in my mind, I thought there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of similar items on offer by folk, all over the country, who do not know the right person to approach.
An idea started formulating....
Could there be a niche here for an early retired entrepreneurial couple, or several couples, to develop a pre-scheduled route throughout the UK or parts of it, (and anywhere else on the globe as well) to collect such "hidden" but available resources? The whole thing came vividly into focus. These" resource captors" would visit farms, businesses, factories etc where resources could be potentially available and at the same time compile a list of Orphanages, Day Centres, special projects and other local initiatives as well as overseas ventures who would appreciate such materials.
These RESOURCE COMBINES could make regular stops in various towns/cities where folk could visit to contribute items or post items on a website if they were too large for the "resource truck". The personal visits, local links and relationships could rapidly grow into a very effective network. I guess there are several variations on this theme. From my own experience, the personal visits by the Resource Combine vehicle would be a major key in building long-term partnerships.
Projected onto a larger, global scale, is Global Hand also featured on the SOI site.
Why not check it out... http://www.globalhand.org
