Recycling center could help us find new “members!”
In working towards establishing a cooperative, one of the most important things that we can do is attract- or at least identify- potential new members. Doing this isn’t easy. When we do find interested parties, keeping them interested isn’t all that easy either. Not many people who will ultimately be members of a potential cooperative will be interested in simply attending planning meetings for a couple of years, so the sooner we provide some sort of service (or an event or events) that are interesting, fun or useful- the better!
When I think about trying to reach out to neighbors to see who is interested, the simplest thing to do seems to be just to get out and go door to door. There are probably better ways. One other way would be to pay close attention to who responds to ilovelents polls relating to the co-op effort. Even polls that aren’t directly related might help- and give us an idea about the kinds of services and events that we could use to build support. My recent recycling poll might give us some clues for instance! While approaching neighbors in general might yield some results- I think that there is probably a higher correlation of interest in the co-op among people interested in recycling more than with random people living in the neighborhood. If we provided a service- a place in the neighborhood where people could drop off recyclables that aren’t taken at the curbside- the people that participated would probably be very likely to want to shop at a co-op eventually. We’d just need a physical place to collect them at!
A collection site where people could drop off recycling at any time would be nice- having hours of collection would be good too- it would allow a volunteer to interact with the person dropping off their materials! We could have information related to the co-op effort, where we’re at in the process, what we need to get done, what events are coming up- questionaires that ask their opinion and that help guide us in a direction that will most fit the needs of the community rather than our own thoughts and preferences! I think this would be a simple and constructive thing we could do to move the process along a little quicker! We would need a physical space to do this though!
Having a physical space would allow us other opportunities as well! If we were collecting recycling once a week, we could also begin distributing food once a week- basically like a food buying club. Maybe we could hold our meetings at the location as well! We could start developing a small inventory! Once we’re here- we have taken a big step towards our goals!!
I think that we should start working on ideas for spaces- maybe the house on Ramona- that would serve as an interim location and that would allow us to start providing some services prior to opening the doors of a full fledged cooperative. I think that recycling would be a great place to start!
Jeff
Kudos to you on wanting to start a co op in Portland. We used to live in the Alberta neighborhood and I was a manager at Nature’s Fresh NW back in the day. I will be watching your progress closely, as I am involved in a couple of projects that run parallel to yours. First, we own a commercial property that we hope to install a small coop in. I am also involved in a project called Wastipedia where we will collect reusable materials that can be upcycled into new products. Have you thought of starting with a CSA model? People buy into a “basket” of food for $__ a week and they get a regular supply of staples and can add items that they want that week. I can connect you to some successful ones here in Cleveland to get you more info if you like.
Hi Robert!
Our plan at one point was to create food buying clubs- some of this is probably my own take rather than the entire groups- in any case, what I was envisioning was that we’d get a food buying club going and once it was well established we’d start another. Once we had a number of them going we’d have enough people involved to pull them together and open a store front. We’ve had some problems that we need to address eventually. We did manage to get one food-buying club going and have had success with it. There unfortunately was some communications problems between some of us and the woman who volunteered to run the first food buying club out of her house. That club is going strong- but has become a little more separate from the larger effort… I think that’s a fair way to put it!
I would like to see a second food buying club start, but we’d need to find a second suitable location for a drop-off point which we haven’t managed to get together. Consequently we’re having periodic meetings of a handful of people- which haven’t included the first food buying club so we’re not really providing any sort of service or anything- we’re just talking! Meanwhile the first group just got a good bit of press and the woman who’s running it mentioned the possibility of opening up a storefront eventually so hey! Maybe we don’t actually have to do anything- maybe we’ll have a co-op eventually through Joan’s efforts!
I guess what I’d like to see is a second effort started- a second club or several clubs- that could eventually be merged with the successful group that has already been established. If that could be worked out! In any case- I would love to talk to you about your experiences! If you get a chance, email me!
Jeff Rose
jeff@ilovelents.com