Stephen Vance, Staff
If you’ll be doing some Spring Cleaning in the coming weeks, consider doing something fun and practical with unwanted items by being a part of Meaford’s Earth Week RE-Use Fair.
The RE-Use Fair is a practical and fun way to support the goal of zero waste in our community. This year’s event is being held on Saturday, April 29 from 10 am until 2 pm at the Meaford & St. Vincent Community Centre.
The re-use portion of the Fair is an organized exchange of goods that keep ‘too good to be through’ items circulating in community. Local charities, non-profits, artisans, schools, and faith-based groups request items via a Wish list. Citizens then bring the wished-for items to the MSV Community Centre on April 29, where they are packaged and picked up by the receiving groups.
“The exchange of goods isn’t for monetary gain. It is to support reuse in our community,” explained volunteer organizer Lindy Iversen.
Last year nearly 1,800 pounds of goods exchanged hands during the RE-Use Fair – that’s 1,800 pounds of items that could have ended up in a landfill, but instead have new life and new uses thanks to the RE-Use Fair.
Below is this year’s Wish List. If you have any of these items collecting dust in a basement or attic, consider dropping them off at this year’s RE-Use Fair.
For more information you can visit: www.meaford.ca/earthweek
Wishlist of Items Requested for the RE-Use & ECO-Fair
On the day of the fair, call before hauling bigger items like desks, chairs, patio table sets, or bricks to the community centre to verify that the item is still needed. 519-538-0167
Make special delivery arrangements in advance for the fallen branches and mulch (6 cubic yards) for public gardens. 519-538-0167
Bags, kangaroo-style for fruit picking
Barn board, all lengths
Baseball gloves
Baseballs
Basketball stand
Beads, natural material wood, stone, seeds, shells
Bistro table, folding, round top, 2ft diameter (2)
Blocks, Mega in bag
Board games, all kinds
Booster seats (not car seats)
Bowls, wooden, all sizes
Boxes, old wooden
Branches/driftwood, for art displays
Buckets, for maple bush
Building blocks, wooden
Bungee cords, long (12)
Canadian Tire money
Canning jars with lids
Cat and kitten canned food
Cloth, natural, fabric, deep earth tones sweaters, old, wool, holes OK
Clothespins
Cobweb catcher
Compost/mulch bags
Computer paper, sprocket-type
Construction paper, all colours
Craft paint for kids, all colours
Craft supplies for kids
Crochet hooks, all sizes
Decks of cards
Dog and cat treats
Dolly, hand cart
Dress mannequin form, neck to torso only
Electric hand mixer
Electronic sign stands
Embroidery thread
Extension cords, indoors, outdoors, 3-prong
Extension pole, prune and pick
Exterior lights, w. incandescent bulbs
Fabric, all sizes, all colours
Flags, provincial
Flannel fabric, all sizes
Folding card tables
Folding chairs, sturdy, outdoor
Glue sticks
Hose, for maple bush
iPod Nano
Kitty litter (a real need)
Knitting needles- all sizes
Lacrosse sticks
Ladder, metal extension
Ladders, old wooden step
Ladders, step, metal any size
Ladders, tripod for fruit picking, metal & wood
Lego, all sizes
Long-sleeved red shirts
Long-sleeved white shirts
Markers for kids, all colours
Masking tape
Mason jars
Material scraps for patching, red, white, or red & white
Necklace chains, broken
Note pads
Organizing bins, small
Paperclips
Paper plates, all sizes
Patio umbrella and stand, for outside
Pencils
Pens
Pipe cleaners, all colours
Plaid shirts
Plant trays
Planter pots, all sizes, clay or plastic
Plastiboard, all sizes for signs
Plastic glasses (recyclable)
Plywood, thin, less than ½ inch, for signs
Pool noodles
Popsicle craft sticks
Puppy and Kitten Chow
Ribbon, curling, all colours
Rug hooking materials
Safety goggles
Scotch tape
Seeds, herb and vegetable
Shirts, long sleeves, red or white
Shirts, plaid
Sign stands, electronic
Sign stands, real estate
Ski helmets (used as astronaut helmets)
Soccer balls
Solar panel, camping-type + inverter
Specialty food, guinea pigs, turtles, rabbits
Spiggots, for maple bush
Spoons, large, old wooden
Stapler and staples
Storage crates, bushel size, plastic, stackable
Straws, drinking
Suitcases, old vintage looking
Sun shelters, pop-up for market
Tablecloths, plastic, all sizes
Tablecloths, rectangle, all sizes
Tea cups and matching saucers (not chipped)
Telephones, old black with handset
Tennis rackets
Thread, all kinds and colours
Thumbtacks
Toaster oven, small and working
Tool boxes, old wooden
Toys, small wooden or plastic
Track lighting fixtures, w. old style incandescent bulbs
Trellis, small garden
T-shirts, red or white
Turtlenecks, red or white
TV tray
Vases, glass or china, all sizes
Vases, skinny neck hour-glass bottom
Weaving materials
Wheelbarrow, metal or plastic
Wood drawers, old solid not ply, fiberboard or plastic.
Wreath forms
Yarn, thick and thin, all colours and types
Yoga mats