You Goodwill has always been 'green'

The current nationwide drive to reposition everything in the marketplace as “green” is one of the most encouraging and fastest developing trends of modern times, especially if manufacturers actually make their products more environmentally friendly.

Some of the institutions you know best have been just as green, or greener, for decades.

The list includes Goodwill Industries, with a location in Crestview.

“We (Goodwill) try to recycle everything we can, anything from clothes and appliances to larger items like furniture so they don't end up in the landfills and instead they can help others,” said Steven Casker of Crestview, who a 10-year Goodwill employee who serves as the Northwest Florida Transportation Supervisor. “Being the original green company makes me want to come to work everyday.”

Goodwill Industries has been quietly, painlessly and effectively helping conserve energy and build stable and sustainable communities for many, many years with the support of the Big Bend area.

How? By helping you recycle your household goods — from household furniture and textiles to toys, clothing and so much more.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the company’s latest efforts to improve conservation efforts. Goodwill now recycles your used cars. And books.

When you donate an item to Goodwill, you are recycling the value left in the item to someone who can use the item to make their life better. They are reclaiming the value instead of sending the item to the trash or landfill. This saves resources and raw materials needed to produce new goods, and greatly reduces the amount of waste produced for disposal.

And there is definitely a demand for those materials!

Nearly a million people shopped in Goodwill Stores in North Florida and South Georgia in 2006. Even better news is that 2007 was on a trend to have more than a million more customers.

The sale of your donated household goods and cars has provided Goodwill with resources. Those profits are plunged back into the community, providing job training, jobs, and housing for the disabled and disadvantaged of the Big Bend.

In 2006, thanks to your donations and purchases, Goodwill served 463 people, helping them gain the skills necessary to enter the workforce, some for the first time.

Of those, 183 were placed into jobs that averaged $8.36 dollars an hour ($1.57 more than the new minimum wage). New computer labs with state-of-the-art workstations helped some earn their GED and others to learn computer programs that will make them more employable through training centers in six Big Bend cities, including Panama City.

Another 475 people are directly employed by Goodwill. Many of employees have disabilities, were chronically unemployed, or have some other barrier to employment.

Your generous donations to Goodwill Industries are the life support for an unbroken circle of healthy and sustainable “green” living within our Big Bend communities. You are also directly helping the less fortunate among us gain independence.

The next time you think of buying a new car, or some other purchase, “Be Green.” Recycle your unused items with value and be part of the oldest and greenest movement in the Big Bend.