Lightfoot

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Lightfoot Circle on Trustroots

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Lightfoot is about writing letters. In 2025 we're reviving this idea using nostr. You can write a letter for someone, drop it in one of the Lightfoot mailboxes, and you can indicate if it should travel over land or if you allow someone flying with it. The original Lightfoot website went offline around 2016 but people have still been receiving letters in 2025, so it doesn't require much technology to make this work, but tech will definitely help spread the idea again and make the letters move faster.

TODO

• if people are interested best if they join https://www.trustroots.org/circles/lightfoot - we can later sound out newsletters to the people in this group
• fix the display of https://www.trustroots.org/circles/lightfoot at https://www.trustroots.org/circles - deploy increased hardcoded limit on circles, from 50 to 150
• https://tripch.at/#lightfoot
• archive.org is overwhelmed with sustainable post stuff, but try to recover some pics: web.archive.org/web/20131010064736im_/http://sustainablepost.org/sites/default/files/logo.png web.archive.org/web/20110905152403im_/http://sustainablepost.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-teaser/IMG_4533.jpg

Past boxes

find out if possible to reactivate:

• The Forty House
• Vienna's LetterBox
• The Back Patio Sanctuary
• Yoshi's Mushroom Palace
• Pears fos the New Year
• Ithaka Palo Alto Box
• Ravenplex Berkeley
• Lightfoot commUnity
• F.Rankenstein
• CrockHouse
• Mother Fools
• New York City Box
• Super Happy Awesome House
• El Mas del Potro
• Serydarth
• BVI Sailing Stop
• Tea Haus Berlin

Questions

Leon> So I got the technical side of it, but the user side means that for lightfoot, there is a postable note for boxes?

Yeah technically, MVPish I see a box as a permanent (but deletable) note posted by user with a geohash (precision determined by user) and #lightfootbox tag. (If the box is with a community we'll see how that works, in practice for the foreseeable future it just means one person of the community has an nsec...)

L> Might be fun to think about how public boxes could look like, perhaps cooperating with hackerspaces to host them + physical relays that notify about presence of letters or something similar

Love it. Has potential for any kind of community spaces, ecovillages, squats, ZADs... Presence of letters can simply be a #lightfootletter @geohash notification for a user, e.g. with https://github.com/Trustroots/nostr-email-notification-daemon and/or https://github.com/Trustroots/notification-daemon

L> Do you think about adding letter information to the Nostr implementation of that or does it take away from the magic of searching for a letter?

Flexible. Doesn't seem needed, but could be a nice additional feature. Can be interesting to suggest writing a geohash as a destination on a letter.

MVP stub

tech:

• One page HTML+CSS+JS vibe code
• Show map and list with #lightfootboxes
• Log in with nsec

note data, also input form:

• geohash
• #lightfootbox
• kind 1 for simplicity and exposure? reconsider later?
• availability options: public 247 / trustroots profile / contact nsec/npub

grow:

• Do any past spaces still have a box?
• We can post it from a lightfoot nsec/npub to kickstart
• Blog post / newsletter to all TR subscribers

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Real letters. Not a complex pattern of zeros and ones, transmitted via dubious technology of uncertain consequences, but real paper, written in your personal hand, carrying your scent and trace oils from your fingertips, your creativity, and your unique, one-of-a-kind style. There's something pure that inspires trust when a handwritten letter is delivered; a personal touch that strengthens your community, however far away they may be, in a way that the internet simply could never do. With Lightfoot Sustainable Post, you can have fun staying in touch, and add extra color to your correspondence: it's no ordinary postman that arrives, but a light-footed traveler, with a smile and a story about the letter's journey. Perhaps YOU'RE the postal deputy, closing the circle of personal contact that is normally so intangible with commercial mail services. And even if you're not a deputy, you simply send mail through Lightfoot - imagine the reaction from that friend you haven't seen in months, that family member, or that lucky loved one, when they answer the door to a smiling stranger holding a note or a package especially delivered just for them. De-light-ful!

And Lightfoot is sustainable delivery - no worries about participating in an industry of waste; no "grey area" environmental safety mysteries, no "par avion" sticker. Instead of relying on oil-dependent aircraft to speed around the world leaving chemicals in their wake, your letter will be carried by a Lightfoot deputy, a trustworthy volunteer that's already headed that way, eco-friendly and traveling Light.

Write letters, connect communities.

Share your creativity, share your travels, share your space. Protect our Earth! Choose the Lightfoot Way!

What ?

Lightfoot is a postal delivery community, expanding across the globe, connecting people together and living in harmony with the Earth. An open source service - Participate!

Why ?

Letters are great, but if all you do is drop it off at the post office, without a thought for what method they'll use to deliver it, or where your money actually goes, it's hard to tell just how much environmental impact you're having. The only real option to send post sustainably is the Lightfoot Way; which not only maintains a carbon-light footprint, but also connects people and builds community, fostering a sharing environment based on trust.

Where? Anywhere!

But let's use the power of trustroots and nostr to revive this in 2026!

When ?

NOW - Write a letter! Have it delivered absolutely free! As for when it will be delivered, your letter will be picked up by the next person passing through and on their way to somewhere nearby the address. Time-sensitive post will require more expedient methods - coming soon: SuperFast Lightfoot Sustainable Post!

Who ?

Anyone can become a Lightfoot Postal Deputy - just drop a letter of your own in the box, and if there's one addressed to somewhere near your destination, take the Vow, and join the ranks of people who've found a better alternative to airmail consumption.

Deputy Application Instructions:

Take it seriously

Think ahead and know where to go

Travel Light! This means using alternative transport only, and stay aware while you carry a Lightfoot badge - Lightfoot deputies are true champions of the Earth!

Don't hurry

Don't settle

Lightfoot Vow: repeat the following words aloud: "I am open, not closed. I trust myself, I trust others. I travel Light and stay aware. I protect solidarity. I hereby invoke my promise to deliver this parcel."

How ?

Write more letters! Maybe a quick note to say hello, or a "Hey does this Lightfoot thing actually work?", or to let your family know you're thinking of them; maybe an inspired rant, or a profound love letter, etched with emotion or doused in hope. Anything you think to write - just reach out to someone! Friends, family, lovers, strangers - everyone loves to get letters, and Lightfoot letters are the best kind! Then, pick up a letter! Reach on in there and see if there's anything going your way. If so, deputize yourself and off you go! Take it seriously - people are counting on you! Travel Light! Think about how you're living while you're carrying the letter. Walking, cycling; hitchhiking, sailing; choose sustainable methods of transportation, and be aware of the effects of your decisions. Deliver on your Mission! Find the address and drop it off personally - make new friends, share experiences, and be the bridge that spans the gap between separated communities.

Pitfalls

When to Take a package, Lost Packages, Unable to Deliver, Time Sensitive Items, ... , "Passing on the Badge" - deputizing another traveler to take over the mission (Do's and Don'ts) ...

Guide to writing letters

Be creative! Use metaphors and similes, alliteration, or other literary tricks to liven things up. Ask questions to show your interest and encourage a response. Be forthcoming and honest; a letter composition is an opportunity to be frank. It doesn't have to be perfect; it's especially true with handwritten letters that "It's the thought that counts."

Put extra information on the envelope - Lightfoot post doesn't pass through thousands of hands like a normal postal letter, so it's safe to adorn the envelope a bit. Include directions to the address or a quick note i.e. "50 km North of Paris," and if you anticipate language barriers, write a note in their language on there too. It may be appropriate to list the contents of a package, if they're perishable or if it has to cross tricky borders. Put a return address, or at least an email, on the outside; and something that says "sustainable transport only." The envelope is an important part of your letter, so make it attractive and clever. And don't forget to recycle & reuse - second-hand paper always has more character anyway!

Make your own box

The ideal here is to have as many boxes in as many places as possible. If you would love to share your home/space and open it up as a Lightfoot Centre, that is one of the best ways you can help. Design a box, deck it out with the logo, and get all your friends to start writing! Pop a post up here with the location and wait for the flood of lightfooted hobo's brandishing scrolls of scribbles! This way letters can travel from Box to Box. Say a deputy is only going half the distance of the package, but will be passing a Lightfoot Post Box along the way... They drop it in to the new post centre where it will wait for the next deputy to finish it's journey. Be sure to have the Vow on hand, and get potential deputies to read through the ideas :)

- No Sustainable Post Box nearby? No place to build one? If you don't have a location for a Post Box in your life, ask around. Maybe someone nearby is keen to set one up. Maybe there is already a nomadic centre that is just waiting to find a lightfoot way of transporting letters!

If there is no Lightfoot Post Box in your city, and nowhere to build one, the simple solution is to check online, find the nearest centre to you, jump on a bike and take a holiday! Make sure you bring a bunch of letters to pop in the box, and take any suitable ones back with you.

Lightfoot Sustainable Post Boxes love visitors!

The past

web.archive.org/web/20110719201603/http://sustainablepost.org/about-lightfoot