The nicest thing about going to the dump is visiting the Swap Shop where numerous items are attractively displayed for free shopping. You don't often see me sitting and reading anymore.
In September of 2007 the town gave us the small orange container in which to put a Swap Shop. Yours truly never realized what she was getting into when she offered to set up a committee to make a place where people could bring their good disposable items instead of dumping them in the waste stream which costs us taxpayers money. 
The original container was the orange one you see on the right. We started out with nothing but two tables inside which husband had made from old doors.
It didn't take long for people to realize what was happening and soon we were overrun with books, clothing, dishes, small appliances and such.
A resident saw the need for bookshelves and literally tore some old wooden ones out of his basement and brought them into the shop.
The gentleman pictured outside the container offered to get donated materials and make shelves. The rest of equiping the shop is history.
This spring the forty foot green container was added to our fleet and it is now filled with furniture, clothing and most anything you could imagine.
It didn't take long for people to see this was a good thing for the community and volunteers
stepped forward. Some claim a certain time to come every week and some are on a call list. Others sign up on a calendar in the shop.
These volunteers spend endless hours sorting clothing into boxes labeled with the proper sizes of clothing displayed on our shelves. Keeping this constant flood of donations sorted is sometimes overwhelming and we do have to toss things that should have gone into the waste stream to start with. However, most people are good about bringing good used items.
I know several people who have outfitted their camps with dishes, furniture and what not. I also see regular people coming to get clothing for themselves or their grandchildren.
Books come and go and we have an excellent library of adult and children's books. I'm amazed how fast cooking books fly out of the shop.
On Saturday, I saw a set of golf clubs enter the shop and go with the next customer. It's fun to see something started to get unloaded and someone else say, "Just load that on my truck."
Not only is the shop getting tons of items out of the waste stream, but people are being helped. I hear people say they tell their neighbors to vist the dump Swallmarts.
Incidently, we moved two and a half tons of items out of the shop in August. We average a ton a month, summer or winter.
Now if you think you need something ELSE to do in retirement, organize a Swap Shop.
3 comments:
I should have looked more closely at the photo which I thought was my carpenter. In fact, it was yours truly.
Congratulations on a worthy endeavor. I use to enjoy listening to the swap shop radio show in Del Rio, Texas.
O.K. I read this the other day, but I got called away on some important mission and failed to comment. I was spending sometime on examining the photograph because I thought the carpenter was vaguely familiar. Bebe thinks it is a great project. Pappy
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