Since the City of Whitehorse closed its Free Store in April, Raven Recycling and other local organizations like the Salvation Army have seen a huge increase in the volume of items at their door that can be reused or resold. People are cleaning out their basements or sheds and these items often end up in our Free Store.
We know that people who visit Raven may be alarmed at the sight of the materials that have overtaken our shelves and the floor. We have been unable to keep up using our regular staff and so we will be hiring new staff for the summer months. This is a short-term, Band Aid solution.
Raven Recycling is seeing that the circumstances around reuse have changed dramatically over the years. We see that we are all consuming at a higher rate than ever and producing more materials that need to be diverted from the landfill. The materials in question are not all recyclable, but many are reusable.
We hope members of the public will consider taking advantage of a new initiative by Zero Waste Yukon that could help deal with their reusable materials. Zero Waste Yukon is a multi-stakeholder initiative to raise awareness and provide opportunities to Yukon citizens in reducing their waste.
On the last Saturday of every month, Zero Waste Yukon will be hosting a garage sale at North Star Mini-Storage at 106 Titanium Way. You can sell your stuff in three ways: If you make a donation to the Food Bank, you can sell from the trunk of your car or the box of your truck. If you want a table the cost is $20 and if you want to have a storage unit and get your stuff organized the week before, it costs $40. The first sale is set for Saturday, May 28 from 11 to 2 p.m.
Next weekend is also the City’s Tag’n'Take. Items that are in good condition can be tagged and left at the curb for someone else to use. Uncollected items must be removed before 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 29.
Anyone who attended the ReUse Roundtable hosted by the City on May 11 will agree that we need a new way to collect, store and distribute reusable items in Whitehorse. We look forward to being part of the solution as Whitehorse moves towards zero waste and embraces the concept of reuse and reselling.
Joy Snyder
Executive director, Raven Recycling