The Tragedy of the Convenient

I am hearing more and more stories of companies throwing things away, because they "just don't want to deal with them." I totally understand. It's time consuming and difficult to do the right thing sometimes. We are often motivated in our heart to make sure items are properly disposed of or reused, but our budget doesn't allow us to do so.

What's the solution? Creativity and patience.

Etreev was started with the intention to offer a solution to companies and individuals who wanted to do the right thing with the items they no longer needed. I call this Eco-Allocation. Our niche is office furniture and equipment, but we are capable of so much more. The creativity is in the fact that we use a Wishlist Matching System. It's pretty cool. You need stuff, you let us know. We get stuff you need, we let you know.

The creativity is cool, but like with any new initiative, it takes patience to see it through. I'd like to thank those clients that had the patience with us to see our process. We are constantly improving, and hope we can be a part of a movement that turns zero waste into a reality!

Why Etreev?

A lot of people have asked us where we came up with the name "Etreev." Truth be told, every other name we came up with was already taken. Frankly, however, I'm glad they were. I love our name.

Etreev is a play on the word "Retrieve." We like to think that we are "retrieving" items destined for the dump, and putting them back to good use. We removed the "r" and started our name with an "e," to signify the way we are doing this: much like e-commerce, e-mail, e-bay, we are using the power of modern technology to connect people with the items they need. Finally, we changed the "i" to an "e," so the word "tree" could be in the name. I love the image of sustainability the tree portrays. Trees are beautiful, strong, and a refuge for other species. We hope, in the spirit of Shel Silverstein, our tree can be a "Giving Tree."

Etreev was started because it is very difficult for non-profits to raise the funds they need to survive. Simple donations of office furniture, equipment, and supplies can make all the difference to many of them. Our goal is to provide the connection between those with the supply, and organizations with the need.

After a little more than a year of business, we have been able to do a lot of good. Here's to several more years, and a ton more good!