St. John resident Lina Guild, above, gives the thumbs up on her new purchase from IGBA’s ReSource Depot. Rob Vahling, Karen Vahling, Christie O’Neil and Rob Crane pose in front of the organization’s new banner, below.
On July 20, the Island Green Building Association’s ReSource Depot program for recycled building supplies exceeded 10,000 pounds of materials kept in use and out of landfills.
“As we are only open on Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to noon, by volunteers, these are amazing results,” said Karen Vahling, IGBA executive director. “We have been open 28 Saturdays since January, for an average of 180 pounds per hour. Savings for the community vs. retail costs are estimated in the high thousands — 60 to 80 percent less than retail.”
“Savings for our environment in terms of sourcing, shipping, packaging and disposal of materials — priceless,” said Vahling.
Anyone who hasn’t stopped by the Resource Depot, located across from the Susanaberg Transfer Station on Gifft Hill Road, should consider making a tax deductible donation, Vahling explained.
“We accept almost anything in good condition that can build or furnish a home or garden,” she said.
Residents can now drop items off anytime in the open area between the first two containers on the right at the Resource Depot. Just stack the items neatly and call Vahling at 227-1110 to let her know about the donation. Residents are also invited to stop by on Saturday to get a tax deductible receipt and shop the wares.
IGBA always needs volunteers for the store, someone to do pickups with a truck, and wonderful donors to Adopt-a-Box and pay the group’s container rent, or Adopt-an-Ad and cover the cost of newspaper advertisements.
While the depot is only open for two hours each week, IGBA officials plan to extend those hours, Vahling added.
“We plan to add more hours soon,” she said. “An inventory list has been updated on our website, which changes quickly. It will be updated every two weeks.”
Check out www.igbavi.org for the inventory list.
“We are proud of what we’ve done and plan to do much more,” said Vahling. “It’s been so nice to hear the comments of shoppers like ‘Thanks for doing this,’ ‘I would have paid three times that,’ and ‘Keep up the good work.’”
