Mixed feelings

Junkk was set up with help from a variety of quarters.

Mostly grants. Though I was mainly looking for assistance in areas to complement those I had, and those I definitely lack.

I have lost count of the number of BusinessLinks, UNLtds and other assorted quangos my business model and plan went through.

Sometimes it worked, and I go some money... and a box got ticked. And then they moved on. Giving out money and ticking boxes seemed, and still seems the order of the day.

What I was, am and seek to DO always seemed to pass these geniuses by, with their P&Ls, forward forecasting and 'Widgets from Wigan' mentalities (it needs to be a 'thing' that you buy for 50p, sell for £1, and can turn around in a month, and you'll be on a subsidised trip to Taiwan before you can say match funding) is look at the future, and long term ways to make a difference... and make money too, if I can.

And one of the very first, and most fundamental aspects of the Junkk.com plan was, is and always will be to see rubbish as a resource.

And I set out from day one on this basis, with a view to harnessing the power of the internet, and the principles of incentive and reward via this medium, to motivate 'better' environmental practices by the consuming public.

That aspect was never appreciated by the money folk, nor the quangocrats, especially those with all this 'experience' in social enterprise.

So I look with envy, over the pond, at this:

Terracycle (no more space to add a label:(

They are getting there, because they, and others around them, have 'got it'.

I just hope after 10 years of plugging away here, I an make it happen in the UK too.

We have certain advantages. I think Junkk.com adds a sense of fun to it all, but we also have a built-in searchable database and postcode location sytem that can easily connect people looking and offering.

I have often been told I am 'ahead of my time'. To date, it has been a curse... I want, need to be of it. But I am determined that my vision will yet be fulfilled, and 'Rubbish need not be a dirty word'.