Folbot once again graces a feature article in the Wall Street Journal. Folbot’s first appearance in the newspaper in a September 2008 article discussed how companies are broadening their businesses to international markets. Now, Folbot takes the stage again in a March 15 article discussing social media and marketing.

The article begins:

Last year, Jackie Siddall described in a blog post how a message she received on Twitter prompted her to buy a folding kayak for around $1,900.

The vessel was one of about just 600 sold in 2009 by Folbot Inc., a small retailer in Charleston, S.C. “You can’t buy that exposure,” says the firm’s co-owner, David AvRutick, who claims the incident speaks to the value of using social media for marketing.

Then, various new studies about social media use among businesses are mentioned. Some positive, some negative. The story then returnes to Folbot:

Mr. AvRutick says he regularly searches Twitter for tweets that mention kayaking and then sends messages to the people who wrote them. He connected with Ms. Siddall, the blogger who credited Twitter for exposing her to Folbot, after she posted a tweet that mentioned she wanted a kayak.

Ms. Siddall, a 37-year-old senior designer for Idea Couture Inc., a creative-marketing agency in Toronto, says she was unaware that folding kayaks even existed until she heard from Mr. AvRutick. She spent the next few months researching different brands, which included perusing a networking forum on Folbot’s Web site about kayaking.

Ms. Siddall says she later asked Mr. AvRutick via Twitter if he would send her some photos of her folding kayak being made, and he provided about 20. After it arrived, she says she decided to write a blog post about the whole experience.

“I didn’t find the same level of information or communication online from the other brands,” she says.

We’d like to give special thanks to the Charleston Regional Development Alliance and the Development Counsellors International for making this article happen!

As an avid recycled, I am sad to hear that the majority of our trash could have been recycled and avoiding being dumped in a landfill. We are lucky in Charleston County to have free recycling in most places, so I’m not sure why everyone doesn’t recycle. Sure it can get a little sticky, but if you must take trash to the curb-why not haul recycling too?

According to the Post & Courier, half of the trash at the Bees Ferry Landfill is paper, and 1/4 is glass, bottles and food waste that could have been recycled. Charleston County has a goal to recycle 40% of waste, and several measures have been taken to improve the amount of stuff recycled, like adding more recycling routes and increasing yard waste composting. The county has also gotten 11 proposals from groups that use alternative methods to dispose of wastes and create fuel at the same time.

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I love to see cans and bottles smashed up like the photo to the left when I go to the recycling center. It really helps illustrate the volume of stuff that can be used to make something new, like countertops or purses.

Not recycling yet? Here’s how to get started:

1. Swing by any of the local recycling centers to pick up a bin for FREE or call a center and schedule to have a bin dropped off when recycling is being picked up in your neighborhood.
2. Find out what can be recycled at home (usually materials with a #1 or #2 on the bottom without lids). Some materials like electronics and cardboard must be dropped off at a recycling center. Check the full list of materials that can recycled in Charleston Co. here.
3. Recycle!
4. Check the pick-up date on this calendar and bring your blue bins to the curb!
5. Repeat!

Still have questions about recycling in Charleston, click here.