Since its temporary closure in April, many of our customers are missing the Reuse Centre. We want to share this post written by one of our volunteer bloggers. Radhika shadowed two of our attendants in January and describes her behind-the-scenes experience.
In January, I had the chance to meet and talk with two of the Reuse Centre employees about their roles and what their day-to-day looks like at the Reuse Centre. I wanted to ask questions specific to their job duties and also get an idea of the Reuse Centre culture and what items are available for the visiting customers. The two employees I spoke with were Jon and Liane. Jon started as a Recreation Technician in September 2018 and Liane’s been a Reuse Centre Attendant for five years. The goal of their jobs is to divert waste from landfill through reusing and educating the public on what items can be brought to the Reuse Centre.
Some of Jon and Liane’s job duties when residents bring in donated items are: quickly screening items; weighing sorted items; and stocking items onto shelves. There is also a lot of customer service required from these employees; they have to help customers and volunteers by answering their questions, complete cash duties and sometimes act as mediators when popular items are in high demand.
Jon and Liane both have been personally influenced by working at the Reuse Centre. Jon bravely admitted that he used to throw everything in the garbage. Now he divides his waste more carefully into garbage, recycle, compost and donations for the Reuse Centre. Liane is also very detail-oriented with recycling and reusing. She tries to create as little waste as possible and reuse as much as she can at home. Another employee acknowledged that she even has her family collect donations for her to take to the Reuse Centre every time she visits them.
With all the events that occur at the Reuse Centre, I had to ask the staff about their favourite events. Jon likes the DIY drop-in events that give people the opportunity to explore and get creative. He really likes when families come in for them. Liane really liked the 2019 Family Day event where families came in to get their names written in calligraphy on reused bookmarks, made animal balloons, and checked out some of the educational programs.
As I walked around the Reuse Centre, I got a sense of the type of environment and work culture that it possesses. Jon and Liane describe this as a very unique culture. It consists of employees and customers with very diverse ethnicities, professions and age groups (everyone is also very nice). The employees definitely seem to enjoy their jobs and have a lot of fun. At times the Reuse Centre definitely has library vibes and attracts clientele who are committed to environmental friendliness, different from a typical thrift or retail store.
A routine day at the Reuse Centre usually has about 70 people come by to drop off their items and about the same number of visitors seeking to purchase items for reuse. Tuesdays and Saturdays are the busiest since the Reuse Centre is closed on Sundays and Mondays. The employees get to see teachers, daycare staff, readers, gardeners, artists, farmers, students, resellers, and personal buyers visit the centre to purchase items. This again reflects the Reuse Centre’s culture of diverse customers and employees who come together for a common good.
Out of the thousands of items donated and sold on a typical day, high demand items are: books, jewellery, CDs, DVDs, sewing supplies, fabric, canning jars, and egg cartons. Competing with those items, 6-pack rings, coffee cans, yogurt containers, mesh fruit bags, and National Geographic seem to be the least favorites. The Reuse Centre is well known for receiving cardboard boxes, egg cartons, greeting cards (Christmas, birthdays, etc.), media, books, and binders in their donations.
If after reading this post, you realize you have a lot of the items mentioned above lying around or have a need for one of the items, please go to the Reuse Centre’s website to check out the list of more than 200 items that you can donate or find at the Reuse Centre. I recently found out that I could have been purchasing all of my and my brother’s school supplies at the Reuse Centre rather than buying them brand new from stationery stores. I appreciate Reuse Centre employees for doing their day-to-day jobs to keep the Reuse Centre organized and promoting an alternative to wasting otherwise useful materials. *The Reuse Centre is currently closed and will remain closed at least until Stage 3 of the province’s relaunch plan. Please save your donations for when we reopen or donate to your local donation centre.
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| One of the book Shelves - Reuse Centre |
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| Mesh bags and six pack rings -Reuse Centre |
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Shelf of egg cartons -Reuse Centre |
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| Collection of cards and National Geographic -Reuse Centre |
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Big bins of coffee containers -Reuse Centre |
If after reading this post, you realize you have a lot of the items mentioned above lying around or have a need for one of the items, please go to the Reuse Centre’s website to check out the list of more than 200 items that you can donate or find at the Reuse Centre. I recently found out that I could have been purchasing all of my and my brother’s school supplies at the Reuse Centre rather than buying them brand new from stationery stores. I appreciate Reuse Centre employees for doing their day-to-day jobs to keep the Reuse Centre organized and promoting an alternative to wasting otherwise useful materials. *The Reuse Centre is currently closed and will remain closed at least until Stage 3 of the province’s relaunch plan. Please save your donations for when we reopen or donate to your local donation centre.
Submission by Radhika (volunteer)