That small business owner was Peter, my partner and EcoShip’s CFO. He was a reseller and prided himself in reusing packaging materials. When we met, I decided to help collect packaging for his business. After reaching out on multiple community Facebook groups, my bin quickly filled up with packaging that individuals were eager to get rid of so they wouldn’t have to toss it in the trash. I began driving around Chicago neighborhoods to collect even more items and decided to reach out to others who were on the lookout for materials. After supplying the first 5 businesses, the idea of EcoShip was born.

EcoShip is currently ran by Peter and myself. Everything, from the outreach, to the collections, to the sorting is done by us. It’s become a successful project that has grown quickly over the year. We are now partnered with 10 businesses that collect items on our behalf and we have a wonderful community of volunteers who selflessly dedicate their time. EcoShip is a nonprofit that intends to benefit individuals, small and large businesses, other nonprofits, and organizations around the state. We love partnering with others and working with them to provide a service to our local communities. Our small team welcomes all and hopes to inspire others to make a difference.

Our goal for the future is to have a storefront so that anyone can walk in, pick out the items that they need, and pay what they can. We would like to offer a delivery option to those who don’t have access to transportation and we would like to be able to pick up donations from more locations. We are taking it one step at a time, though. If you believe in our project as much as we believe in it, you can volunteer, donate or sponsor an event.

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We get asked why we don’t accept more items and why we “can’t just take the item”. We have many reasons for keeping our list of accepted items short and simple, but here are a couple of them.

1. Over the year, we realized that people don’t like to read anything longer than 2 sentences (so I apologize in advance for this essay). We get it - you’re busy. That’s why our list is short and simple. Anything that is NOT on our list, we firmly do not accept. Wish cycling harms and since EcoShip operates out of a storage unit, we do not have access to our own garbage and recycling bins. If an item that we are collecting is not in demand, we will pause accepting it. If that frustrates you, we ask that you hold on to that frustration and reach out to large companies who are responsible for the tremendous output of single-use plastic.

2. All items collected are meant to be reused, not recycled or thrown away by us. EcoShip is not a waste management company. That was never our goal, nor will it ever be in the future. We want you to be involved in the process of your item getting reused. Whether it’s by making sure that everything is clean and sorted upon dropping off, volunteering at an event, or reaching out to your favorite business to let them know that they can receive free, gently used packaging materials from us.

As always, I thank each and every one of you for taking the moment to look us up and get involved in one way or another.

Signing off,
Aleksandra
Founder & CEO