Reuse Centre popular spot
Victoria County residents taking advantage of pilot project
Finding a new life for good quality but unwanted items, while diverting waste from the landfill, has been the result of a vibrant Saturday morning activity for Victoria County residents.
The endeavour is raising money for local charities as well.
The county’s transfer station along Old Margaree Road has become the location for this relatively new hotbed of recycled goods and fundraising efforts under the name of the Reuse Centre.
Former municipal councillor Athol Grant is credited with the idea for the project after hearing from residents who were genuinely upset about the amount of quality items ending up in the county landfill.
“I think it’s really a part of what makes us human to be upset seeing good things go to waste. It touches something deep inside our psyche,” said Jocelyn Bethune, spokesperson for the county’s public works department.
“He moved forward with plans and council picked up on it and staff were able to see that this building was built over the winter of 2017-2018. We weren’t officially opened yet but staff were kind of diverting items.
“People would say at the scale house ‘I have this old dishwasher, it still works but I have a new one and I just don’t know what to do with it.’ Our staff would say put it in the Reuse Centre.”
The first day for the new venture was fittingly Earth Day on April 21 when everyone around the world is encouraged to think about conservation.
Non-profits were brought into the equation after county staff operated the facility for a few weeks and donated those proceeds to charity.
Organizations in the community now get four weeks to run the show on their own each Saturday morning from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and so far, a minimum of $1,000 has been raised for each organization during their specified time period.
“It’s win-win,” said Bethune. “Our goal is to divert materials that would have ended up in a landfill, local non-profits are fundraising, they don’t have to put anything into it other than their time there and people are getting good deals on items that still have life left in them. There are so many good things about this.”
Each Saturday at the centre the format for the weekly sales has been a pay what you think is fair formula.
In some cases, that has meant $40 for a good quality folding chair and whatever change is in a purchaser’s pocket for dishes in others.
“It really is up to that person and maybe to the point of where they are financially in their lives. It really is just a wonderful place.”
Items from sofas and dishwashers to televisions, tanks and microwaves have been moving in and out each week. There’s also been vacuum cleaners and plenty of good quality dishes.
“What we are finding is that the group in there will contact all of their members and say we are cleaning out our closet and basement, bring your stuff out. They are also saying if you are looking for stuff, we are fundraising, come on out.”
Members of Knox Church have the floor of the centre in Baddeck this week. In the past the Bras d’Or Archers Association, the K147 Sea Cadets and Baddeck Cat Rescue have had their turn.
Non-profits can register for their four-week selling period on the Victoria County website or through the public works Facebook page.
Names of non-profits are then drawn randomly by council members or staff from the submitted applications.
The Reuse Centre will be studied over a 12-month period to fully uncover what is working and what may not be working.
The expectation is that a similar centre can be set up for residents North of Smokey sometime in the future.