Ecological action on the internet helps provide a feeling of community to isolated groups of forest activists. Indexes are being constructed. The exchange is one of the first completely interactive services to reach the World Wide Web. Over 10,000 items have already been listed. Significantly, the Exchange lets anyone with a computer and access to the Web immediately list anything they wish to sell or get rid of at no cost by filling out a simple form on the system.
Users can instantly search an area as small as a single area code or as broad as all of Europe.
Even if a user is only listing a bicycle, it can be easily located by a buyer just down the street. However, the Exchange also contains listings from Japan to Germany allowing tons of base metals, paper products, and chemicals to be traded nationally and internationally. The Exchange has already made important contributions in times of real need, bringing clothing to relief efforts and beds to homeless shelters. A separate recycling and environmental services database on the Exchange lets users locate transporters, recyclers, and other useful services from over 200 companies. They can be retrieved and read on the screen without an additional software.