ReUse Minnesota, a new nonprofit trade association, promotes reuse as a more efficient alternative to recycling. The group hopes to keep items that are still useful in circulation, and not in landfills, according to ReUse information.
Anna Arkin, the organization’s coordinator, says the membership-based group is for “any sort of business that expands the life of a product through reuse or repair,” or an individual or nonprofit agency working in this capacity.
While most people recycle, reuse is “preferred environmentally,” she says. Reuse can shrink one’s ecological footprint by cutting down on “new purchases which require virgin raw materials and energy,” a prepared statement reads.
Thrift stores, secondhand bookstores, electronics repair and consignment, and architectural salvage shops are just a few examples of businesses working in this area, Arkin says.
However, there’s a lack of consumer awareness on this front, she adds.
Although the association has already begun recruiting members, the group is hosting an official launch event on June 26 at the Summit Brewery in St. Paul.
The group is an outgrowth of the local chapter of the national Reuse Alliance. In 2012, members decided to create a separate organization “to focus on promoting and facilitating reuse at the state level, rather than the national, level,” a prepared statement reads.
Already, the organization has pulled together a variety of local businesses, government organizations, and individuals dealing in the reuse, rental, or repair sector. ReUse Minnesota is also working with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to document the impact of reuse. “The goal is to make reuse happen, so we create a stronger reuse community,” Arkin says.
Source: Anna Arkin, coordinator, ReUse Minnesota
Writer: Anna Pratt