Foghorn wakes up the neighbourhood

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Foghorn wakes up the neighbourhood

September 18, 2008

The sight of citrus fruit rotting on the ground has inspired the launch of the Foghorn email ``blast’’.

It’s a simple way of putting people willing to share things such as knowledge, produce, advice and information in touch with others, in a similar way to how we used to connect with the people in our neighbourhoods. A typical example is when the person with the abundant grapefruit tree is connected with the person who makes marmalade.

``In the past we would have shared excess fruit, plants, knowledge and handy hints with our direct neighbours, but we’re not so inclined to chat over the back fence these days,’’ says founder Erin Fogarty. ``Using Foghorn allows us to be neighbours with anyone anywhere in New Zealand.’’

What began as a personal crusade to stop the waste of delicious home-grown tree-ripened fruit has developed into an online community noticeboard that’s delivered around New Zealand. Foghorn is driven by its users and its beauty lies in its simplicity.

Says Fogarty: ``The method of collating and sending the notices is low-tech and easy to run. This makes Foghorn short, sharp and immediate.’’

Likeminded people can place free notices in the Foghorn newsletter which is broadcast by email daily. Requests and offers can be anything from excess fruit and plants to sharing knowledge, opinions, helpful hints, job offers, casting calls ... basically anything goes as long as it’s legal.

ENDS

Visit http://foghorn.co.nz

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