We've put together all this information so it's convenient for you to digest in one place and decide if hosting is the right fit for you — or if you're already hosting, a singular place for you to reference whenever you need it.

At the end of the guide, there's a checklist that summarizes everything you'll need to start making an impact in your community.

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Who should read this?

This guide is recommended for anyone interested in learning about how hosting on Replenysh works, and for existing hosts to use as a "refresher" on key details and best practices.

What is circularity?

The short answer is that circularity is a new way to prevent reusable materials from going to the landfill and getting them back to brands for reuse. Even with traditional recycling, 75% of products we enjoy today end up in a landfill or incinerated — which goes to show that the current system and infrastructure is broken. To dive deeper into what's broken and why, read this tweet thread.

Circularity rethinks, from the ground up, how products should be designed, consumed, and reintroduced back into supply chains so that they can be endlessly reused.

Imagine brands taking responsibility for the materials they put into the world and being able to connect directly with their customers, like you, to get them back and reward you for that loyalty. Pretty cool, huh?

What is Replenysh?

We exist to end landfills.

We're building the tools to enable any brand and community to build circularity and unlock the value of everyday materials. With circularity, communities no longer have to pay to do the right thing with their products.

The toolset we've built enables value to flow throughout the fabric of a community — creating jobs, igniting goodwill amongst neighbors, and ultimately making tangible progress towards the goal of ending landfills.

The key players in every Replenysh community are:

Hosts - any individual or organization that collects & stores reusable materials from the community
Members - individuals who want to make an impact by keeping their materials out of the landfill
Collectors - individuals who transport and bale the materials, ensuring they are ready to be sold back to manufacturers and brands for reuse

Together, we call it the "operating system of circularity" and we hope you're as excited as we are for what this means as more communities adopt this new way of thinking and doing.

What is a host?

A host on Replenysh is any individual or organization who collects materials from their community.

Hosting is completely free — we'll give you the tools to collect materials and help end landfills, build a resilient community and earn money.

All you need is a little bit of space to store your materials and a community of as many people, businesses and organizations as possible.

You can either collect materials from people and organizations or get them to bring it to you, depending on your strategy.

Once you have enough clean, reusable material, we sell it back to the brands for you so they can make new products and build circularity.

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Who makes a good host?

Anyone individual or organization can become a host and start making a difference. All you need is a little bit of space to store your materials and a few people to collect from.

The location you store your material is called a listing.

Here's a few common types of listings we see in Replenysh communities:

K-12 Schools
Colleges & Universities
Retailers (local shops and chain stores)
Recycling Centers
Transfer Stations
City Dropoffs
Landfills
Hotels
Single-Family Homes
Multi-family Buildings
City Dropoff Sites
Churches
Offices
Non-Profits
Community Gardens
Farmers Markets
Warehouses
Manufacturing Facilities

We have starter kits available for each of these types.

If you don't see your situation listed above, let us know and we can help.

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Why host?

Everyone has their own reasons for hosting and what it means to them. What they all have in common is making a positive impact in their community and making a tangible contribution towards ending landfills.

On top of that, here are some other reasons why people host:

Earn money for themselves or an organization they care about
Drive foot traffic to their business
Offer an amazing amenity to guests
Educate students on the importance of caring for the planet
Provide employees with the chance to make a difference
Raise money for community improvements
Help neighbors do the right thing
Be a leader in their neighborhood

What is expected of hosts?

Hosts have 3 primary responsibilities.

Collect material - You are in control of when, where and how you collect. We'll give you everything you need to make this easy.
Ensure material quality - Materials are only able to be reused if they're uncontaminated and not mixed with other types. Hosts are responsible for ensuring that they're only collecting accepted material types.
Request a pickup to get paid - Once you have a full super sack, simply request a pickup and we'll handle the rest. You'll get paid and the material will get reused.

Which materials are accepted?

Replenysh has been built to be material agnostic, meaning we aim to eventually be the recovery tool for thousands of products. For now, we currently support 7 unique material types listed below.

Important: With Replenysh, materials are separated by type during collection because they all have different destinations (manufacturers, reprocessors, etc). Material separation is KEY to ensuring they can be sold to these destinations for the highest value (which flows back to you and your community in the form of earnings!).

Plastic PET #1 Containers
Plastic PET #1 Thermoforms
Plastic HDPE #2 Containers
Aluminum Cans
Steel Cans
Cardboard
Glass (not available in all markets, yet)

For a deep dive on each of these material types, check out the videos available in Replenysh Academy.

As a host, you get to choose which material types you accept. Only want to collect PET #1 containers and Aluminum cans? Works for us!

Our goal is to make you an expert at identifying each material type you accept, so additional resources and training is provided through courses and live sessions.

These educational resources are available to all hosts:

At any time, if you're unsure about an item, you can text us a photo to (949) 284-2775 and we'll tell you if it's able to be accepted.
Printable signs for each material type (we recommend placing near the corresponding super sack)
Printable flyers to be handed out to members. This information is also available in the mobile app which can be downloaded here.

Where to store materials

To make collecting and transporting materials as efficient as possible, we ask hosts to collect materials in super sacks. They look like this:

Each sack measures about 3' x 3' x 3' when full

One material type is collected into EACH super sack, they cannot be mixed. So if you accept 3 different material types, we'll provide you with at least 3 sacks.

Super sacks can be stored inside OR outside, depending on which works best for your situation. The top can be tied closed in the event of rain/snow/wind and when it's full and ready for pickup.

The sacks are semi-rigid, meaning they arrive folded and flat, but will stand upright once they are about 1/4 full of material.

Many hosts opt to create racks or hangers for their super sacks to improve the aesthetics and establish a better "zone" where materials are collected.

Want to create your own rack or hanger to organize super sacks? We have multiple DIY options and plans available below.

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Note: Don't let a rack system stop you from getting started! Most hosts start collecting immediately then organize/build racks later.

How to collect materials

How you collect materials is up to you, but there are 3 common strategies we see:

Dropoff - This requires the least work from you, but is usually the most inconvenient for community members bringing you material. Simply set up super sacks at your location and ask neighbors to bring you their materials during the days and hours you set. If you want to allow anyone to dropoff materials, we will display your listing in our mobile app and on the website.
Pickup - Go seek out material in your community and collect from anywhere! Coordinate with neighbors to offer doorstep pickup and ask businesses for their large quantities of materials. If you have the time, this works great and will help you collect lots of material.
Event - Some hosts prefer to schedule community-wide dropoff events on an ad-hoc or recurring basis. Utilize an empty parking lot, set up the super sacks and watch the material roll in.

We encourage you to spread the word to your neighbors and nearby businesses to help everyone around you start making an impact. You'll be surprise how excited people get when they know their products are being kept out of the landfill and made into new stuff!

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Requesting a pickup

Once you have at least one full super sack, you're eligible to request a pickup from Replenysh! Here's how it works:

Use the Replenysh app to add items to your cart
We'll match you with a buyer of those items and you can confirm your order.
A collector will arrive on the scheduled day and collect your materials! They will swap out your full sacks for empty ones, so you can start collecting more right away. There's no need for you to be present at the time of pickup.

Download App to Request Pickup

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Note:

Super sacks must be full to the blue line (see below) before requesting a pickup. Simply tie off the top and place in an accessible area for the collector on your scheduled pickup day.

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Getting paid

After your pickup is complete, the material is weighed, baled (compacted) and sold back to the nearest manufacturer or brand, depending on the type.

Your earnings will automatically be calculated using the latest market rates with factors like distance to destination and material type taken into account.

When you become a host, you'll be asked to securely connect your bank account — which we'll use to deposit earnings within 7 business days of your completed pickup.

You can track everything on your host dashboard or in Host mode on the mobile app. Remember more material = more earnings!

Sharing impact

It's time to tell the community about the collective impact you've been making!

We provide dynamic, shareable reports on your host dashboard, making it simple for you to tell everyone how much material you have kept out of the landfill.

Getting started checklist

Sign up to become a host
Choose which material types to collect and know how to identify them
Receive free super sacks to store material (optional: build a rack to organize)
Tell your community you're now collecting materials to help end landfills!
Ensure material quality by removing any non-accepted items
Request a pickup when you have at least 1 full super sack
Get paid
Share your impact

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Next steps

1. Download the Replenysh app to see how other hosts are collecting material nearby.

2. Ready to start hosting? Let's go! We need just a few details from you.

Become a Host

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Still have questions? We'd love to help.

Send us a message