Rheaply: Helping reWerk support communities through climate-centered solutions
Image courtesy of Rheaply
Most of the behind-the-scenes work we do here at reWerk is spent resourcing tech and furniture donations so we can distribute them to community organizations that provide learning spaces for students, returning citizens and communities of color.
But one less-talked-about but still pivotal part of our mission is our goal to have a positive impact on the environment. The best case scenario we’re aiming for is a win-win-win ecosystem where:
Companies can donate and write off excess or unused high-quality tech, furniture and supplies to be repurposed.
Students, returning citizens and low-income communities can benefit from having access to these materials to fully reach their goals and potential.
And the environment benefits from reducing waste associated with disposing of or storing unused materials that can still be of value.
That last part is where Rheaply comes into play…
Rheaply is resource exchange reimagined. They help make organizations – across all industries – become climate-centered. The Rheaply platform redefines what it means to resource assets, services and expertise by simplifying systems that make it so that anyone in an organization can “get the most out of the resources you have, facilitate the exchange of goods when needed, and catalyze the new connections to ensure nothing goes to landfill.”
We’ve seen this in action as we’ve beta tested Rheaply ourselves here at reWerk to see if we could onboard our nonprofit and corporate partners into the system to give them visibility into what tech and furniture we have available to donate. We’re still working on fully rolling out our reWerk Marketplace (coming soon!), but we’re already working closely with Rheaply’s Ecosystem team to build reuse networks of corporate donors and community organizations to encourage circularity.
Rheaply is built on that concept – of creating a “new economic system that roots out waste and pollution, keeps products and materials in use, and regenerates natural systems” (Ellen MacArthur Foundation).
Image courtesy of Rheaply
Rheaply x reWerk in action
So far, we’ve been able to facilitate donations to our nonprofit partners at StreetCode Academy and Para Los Ninos through the Rheaply platform. We listed laptops and high-quality office chairs available for donation. StreetCode was able to seamlessly request 50 laptops, and Para Los Ninos requested 11 office chairs. We were able to deliver them the following week – and it made it so much easier to get the materials into the hands of our partners.
There’s more in store…
Looking to the future, we’re working on building out our reWerk Marketplace to make it easy for any of our partners to see and request donations. But in the meantime, if you’re a nonprofit, school or community organization interested in receiving tech or furniture donations, join our network of nonprofit partners here.
If you’re a company interested in donating quality materials to support community organizations, get in touch with us here.
And for anyone interested in making a positive impact on our climate, Rheaply has some tips on how we can all do that: Start small and scale up! rheaply.com/reuse is a great place to start.
Image courtesy of Rheaply