CITIZEN JOURNALISM: Etreev recycles ‘stuff’ in offices

When Gregory Korthase, president of Etreev, worked for a nonprofit, he experienced what it means to make do with little - “not much money and little equipment, and always appreciating donations of computers, desks, etc.”

When he left the nonprofit to work for a construction company that built storage miniunits, he saw so many computers, many unused, that he didn’t know what to do with them, and neither did anyone else.

Mr. Korthase said he thought, “What a waste.”

That was his inspiration for forming Etreev, an environmentally friendly company that removes and recycles surplus materials that otherwise would be destined for the trash heap.

Why not create a wish-list exchange system that would help nonprofits and larger organizations, he asked?

“In America, we have way too much stuff and don’t know what to do with all of it. So to get help to people on the front line [who] need the help, Etreev was born,” he explained.

Etreev strives to be “the go-to surplus-asset solution for companies in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan regions,” Mr. Korthase said of his Alexandria-based company, which started in January. The Web site boasts that its Clean Sweep services help clients “benefit the triple bottom-line (people, profit and planet)”

In one example, provided by Etreev, the Arlington-based Capital Hospice was able to sell and donate office furniture and equipment to different area businesses and nonprofits, including AMEN (Arlingtonians Meeting Emergency Needs), Artomatic, the D.C. Fire Department, Heart of America, Northern Virginia Family Services, Thurgood Marshall Center Trust, Secure Waste, National Coalition for the Homeless, Iglesia Bautista Hispana Comunidad De Fe, Education for Hope, and Spingarn Senior High School.

John Russell with Secure Waste said, “We have a small company and, as others, are strapped for cash during these difficult economic times. These items will assist us in our growth and expansion without incurring a large outlay of much-needed funds.”

According to Mr. Korthase, more than 16 tons of material was diverted from the landfill and more than 46 tons of greenhouse gases were eliminated in the Capital Hospice exchange.

“I have had a unique path on my way to Etreev,” Mr. Korthase said.

It started when he read the book “Creating a World Without Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus. A banker and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mr. Yunus states in his book that he “pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people - mainly women - with small loans they use to launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty.”

After reading the book, Mr. Korthase said, he brainstormed about how to make a difference in this country using the microcredit concept.

“So, I recruited my father, Craig Korthase, and a mentor, Gerry Hartis, to help me in my quest,” he said. “We started a [limited liability company] called Korthase Enterprises with the purpose of launching businesses that help people discover ways to responsibly distribute their unneeded items.”

In his quest, he discovered a California consulting company called iReuse, and they partnered to build an online system to automate the wish-list process.

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