“Spread the love”

Spread the love Objective: Build a ” freecycle ” community in Sorocaba, Brazil. Increase awareness of the interconnectedness of people-actions/attitudes- environment, create an active group of conscious citizens willing to work together for a sustainable world.

The Challenge: Lack of awareness of the interconnectedness between people and their actions and the consequences this has on the environment and on themselves. The guiding Earth Charter Principles 1. Respect Earth and life in all its diversity. a. Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings. 2. Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love. a. Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people. Target Group Residents of Sorocaba, Ecotece organization (

Project Plan Summary: First step: “ Spread the love ” Start a Free-cycle community to form a receptive group of people that will recycle-donate a variety of objects to other people. Second step: “ Plan for Action ” once a solid group is formed the members will be invited to meetings to discuss ways to endorse the Earth Charter in the bigger community. Third step: “ Making it happen ” once a group of active and interested citizens is formed the action plans can become reality. Task groups will work on issues like funding, implementation and education.

Step.1: Spread the Love Start a Freecycle community ( to form a receptive group of people that will donate a variety of objects to other people. That should increase people ’ s awareness of how much we buy that we don ’ t need, and where things go when we throw them away. Why Freecycle? Their mission statement provides the answer: “ build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community. ” All community members will also be invited to participate to a side group that will promote the sustainable initiatives in the city (that often go unnoticed) and will be a forum to exchange ideas, create new projects and, disseminate the Earth Charter principles.

Step 2: Plan for Action once a solid group is formed the members will be invited to meetings to discuss ways to increase the awareness of the bigger community, including: how to apply Earth Charter principles into educative programs in schools and universities, Creation of community vegetable gardens Setting up of Ecotece ( tailor ’ s projects in the lower income community of Sorocaba. And promoting the sale and use of fair-trade, recycled PET fibre T-shirts (providing an extra source of income to community members).

Step 3: Making it Happen once a group of active and interested citizens is formed the action plans can become reality. The group will be divided into task groups each responsible for a project. The bigger group will continue to meet to discuss doubts, obstacles, partnerships and further actions. In the initial stages of the project all members must be willing to devote their own time and effort, as the group and its projects gain visibility in town, the group leaders will draft a project plan to present to city council, to solicit support and funding. They will also discuss to which organization or industry they will solicit additional funding.

Where and How During the fist step phase no space or money is required. The freecycle platform is free of cost. Members exchange objects within the city and each will be responsible for pick-up and delivery. Step two will require a meeting space. This can be done using the public library meeting room (that is available for free but must be booked in advance). Step three will require funding for various donors and the approval of the municipality for the use of public spaces.

Questions, suggestions? Contact me!