THE Mount Gambier ReUse Market was officially opened on Saturday, offering a variety of second hand goods for sale.
The market will aim to reduce waste going to landfill by upcycling and reusing useful items.
Deputy Mayor Sonya Mezinec said the market concept was a demonstration of Mount Gambier City Council’s commitment to dealing with rubbish differently as part of its “reduce, reuse and recycle” philosophy.
“We have fast food, fast fashion and now we have fast furniture. We can buy household items very cheaply now, which sends the message that when you get sick of it, you just throw it out and get something new,” Cr Mezinec said.
“We are hoping to change that attitude with the ReUse Market, so that all those items that are still useful can be reused by someone else.”
The $560,000 recovery facility was the brainchild of the former council, formally endorsed in August 2017.
“It takes a lot of people, talent and commitment to make these ideas become reality,” Cr Mezinec said.
“I acknowledge the work of council’s former environmental sustainability committee – as a group we advocated strongly for the market concept and for council to allocate funds toward it.
“I would also like to thank council staff who took the idea that we had and dealt with the logistics to make it happen.
“The staff are so passionate about giving recovered items another useful life and have been supported along the way with assistance from students from the Independent Learning Centre.”
Community support for the new initiative has been overwhelming, with more than 500 people through the doors on Saturday and more than 250 transactions made.
“I would like to thank the community for embracing the idea of donating items for the market, there has been an enormous amount of interest and the three occasions it has been open it has been packed and people have really enjoyed their time browsing,” Cr Mezinec said.
“The success of the market is only limited to the extent the community supports it and when you take a look you will see the magic that has been created by the ReUse Market team.”
The council encourages community members to drop off unwanted, good quality items for free at the waste transfer station for resale at the ReUse Market.
The ReUse Market team continues to recover donations and items from the waste stream to prepare for the next opening.
“The team would like to thank the community and our customers for their support and encouragement so far,” ReUse Market coordinator Rebecca Mobbs said.
“You may plan on having a clean-out at home over the holidays and if you find anything that you are not using in good condition, please consider donating the items to us by dropping them off at the waste transfer station.”
The ReUse Market will open again on January 9 and 19 from 10am until 1pm.
