By Colleen Supanich | Project Leader
We are completing the first year of operation of the world's first Eco-Stores and we have been reflecting on some lessons learned. The first lesson that we learned is that this project has been far more successful than we could have even imagined. Across the first 3 Eco-Stores we are collecting over 2,000 eco-bricks each month recycling over 500 pounds of plastics! This means we are able to increase the amount of rainwater cisterns we are currently building each year from 10 to 30. Another lesson that we have learned is to be firm with the community members about the quality of the eco-bricks they exchange. We had implemented a policy of leniency for the first visit to the Eco-Store however what we noticed is that once we accepted eco-bricks which weren't as full as they needed to be, the same customers would return again the next time with their eco-bricks lacking in quality. Finally we have also learned what kind of items our communities like. While in the town proper the Eco-Store customers typically prefer pantry supplies for daily consumption, in the smaller villages items for the home such as pitcher sets, comforters, towels, frying pans and LED lightbulbs fly off the shelves!!! We just wanted to share with you these lessons learned over the first year of these Eco-Stores as well as to share with you our plans for the future. These first 3 Eco-Stores are scheduled to receive funding in October to continue running them for the next year, making them sustainable after the initial year of start up. We are looking forward to continuing and expanding this project in both scale as well as into new areas! In fact, we have 6 new communities that are requesting Eco-Stores! Each Eco-Store costs around $3,000 to run for the start up year. Your continued donations are the first step to getting more people involved in recycling as well as to providing us with more eco-bricks to expand our community development projects. We hope you will continue being involved in this project.
Many thanks!
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