WasteNot: Social Enterprise of SVdP Alameda County

Permanent Error

2010-08-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Michael Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town is currently featuring some powerful photos depicting life in eWaste dumps in Ghana by Pieter Hugo. The exhibit, Permanent Error, illustrates the hardship of people who depend on these toxic dumps to survive. See more here.

Specific or General Skills?

2010-07-02T11:42:00.000-07:00

Interesting article in the NYT about factory jobs and skilled workers.

In Cleveland, more and more manufacturing jobs are opening. Despite a large pool of unemployed people, employers are having trouble filling these positions. Most cite a lack of candidates that have the skills necessary for the job. The article highlights an issue that we seek to address in our social enterprise programs.

It's obvious that skilled individuals are more desirable to employers. While it's difficult to train for one specific job, our programs help people learn a broad set of both hard and soft skills that employers will always value, regardless of the job title.

Specialized industry knowledge, particularly in new and emerging fields, is difficult to train people for. I think the article shows it's not that candidates must know how to run a CNC machine, but rather can demonstrate they have the mindset and aptitude to learn how. You might learn to drive in a Honda Civic, but that doesn't mean you can't drive a Ford; the general knowledge of driving is what you take with you. I think the same holds true for employability.

Our aim is for our graduates to emerge with skills, confidence, and attitude needed for any number of positions.

Join Us at the Beehive Market in Berkeley!

2010-06-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

We're excited to announce we'll be at the Beehive Market in Berkeley starting Saturday, June 19th from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

Come down for food, music, local crafts, and all things green!

@ Berkeley Adult School Parking Lot
1701 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702

What is WasteNot?

2010-06-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

WasteNot provides free electronics recycling for the community and provides jobs for the disadvantaged.

We're a social enterprise, meaning we use business practices to generate earned revenue that supports our social and environmental missions. We measure our performance with a triple bottom line. Besides financial performance, we're also looking at our environmental impact, and how we're benefiting the people we serve.

Our free service provides drop-off locations around Alameda County, free pickup of bulk loads, customer assurance that data on devices is destroyed, and zero landfill disposal because all electronic waste is reused, refurbished, or recycled. We hold collection events throughout the county at schools, churches, and local farmers markets.

The bulk of our work is performed by our Transitional Employees. These folks work with us part time for 3 to 4 months and learn the skills they'll need to get permanently employed. From shipping and receiving to palletizing and forklift driving, our employees come away with new knowledge and solid experience.

If you have:

a) eWaste
b) questions
c) all of the above

Contact us at crummell(at)svdp-alameda.org