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Welcome, welcome to Starting Through Life with Colleen Watterston on AM950, the progressive voice of Minnesota.
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I am Colleen Waterston, your host, and the owner and lead organizer at Space by Space Organizing, a twin cities-based home organizing business and proud member of Reuse Minnesota.
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And today I am so excited to have executive director of Reuse Minnesota and my friend Emily Barker.
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Hi, Colleen.
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Good morning.
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I will say we got together for lunch to talk about this episode.
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And I think four hours later we hadn't talked about the episode.
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Just a little bit.
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It was like the the restaurant was turning over to dinner.
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We stayed another minute.
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I think they were gonna bring us a menu.
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Um but they were very lovely to us.
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Um and and then we've talked since about the episode, but at the heart of it, I enjoy you as a person.
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And so we will stay on point for our 48 quick minutes that we get here.
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But so many things to talk about, and um and you are just one of those people that um I love being around and I love what you do, and I love the energy that you do what you do with.
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I think um we'll tell everybody about Reuse Minnesota, but it's you and Carolyn who run this thing and what you guys do, and with every conference or event or thing that I attend with you guys, you do so without um like an energy that's like stressed.
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You just are you're there to serve, you bring a lot of cool people together, you bring a lot of cool topics together, and every time I'm around, I'm just it it feels so easygoing, and yet it's a very high level of what you guys deliver for us members.
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So if people want to be part of that, what is Reuse Minnesota?
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Yeah, well, thanks for that very kind intro.
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I feel similar, and I want to say that I think part of that energy comes from the people who show up because I think people in the reuse world and especially it tends to be very collaborative.
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So I think people come into it with a very like, let's get let's do this together kind of attitude, and that helps.
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Uh but reuse Minnesota is a nonprofit that was founded in 2012.
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We actually originally started as a trade association, so for people who are parts of different, you know, like Chamber of Commerce type groups, we started off as a 501c6.
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And I think they the not folks who were starting it realized kind of quickly that that maybe wasn't the best model for us.
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So we transitioned to a 501c3, so a more traditional nonprofit that people are familiar with in 2016.
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Interesting.
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So who were the original members that have trained?
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Yeah.
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So they were originally the pollution control was heavily involved.
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So yeah, they had staff who helped get it off the ground.
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There were other folks from like the University of Minnesota and other reuse businesses, rental shops that helped get it off the ground.
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So the organization was completely volunteer run for the first eight years.
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And that was folks who were just super dedicated and fantastically invested in the reuse world.
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And so they started off and recruiting members, you know, it's tricky when you're a new organization, right?
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And getting people to know you.
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And part of it with grants, that's what somewhat drives like it's harder as a C6.
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So when you're a 501c3, you can do more of those grants and do more education and more focus.
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So we still are a member-based organization, as you have mentioned.
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And that is uh such a core part of who we are because it helps us help the reuse sector in very unique ways.
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But we also have this component as a traditional nonprofit of education and sharing resources and being that voice in the community that says, hey, yeah, did you know about this?
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We're happy to connect you.
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So we had staff came on in 2021.
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So Carolyn and I are approaching very quickly, five years, which is kind of fun.
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So we have been, we've both been working with the organization since 2021, and that helped shift and allow us to do some more regular programming.
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I do want to give a shout out.
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We have an amazing board and always have since I've started.
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We have a fantastic group of humans.
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So while Carolyn and I are the primary face, a lot of people see, we have a number of folks who involve.
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So long term, if people do or have interest, that's a thing that people can get involved with as well.
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We have a 12-member board, so it's kind of a hybrid of working, but that is a key part of how we operate as well.
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And then of course we have volunteers for different things.
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But yeah, we business advisory board.
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Yes, that is I'm I didn't apply.
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I just it was like, I want to, but I the capacity.
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I understand.
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And yeah, so we just uh we haven't made our public announcement about the members yet.
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That's coming very soon, but we just launched a business advisory council, and this is meant to be a space for folks who just don't have the capacity to dedicate to a board because we do ask a decent amount of our board members to be at events, help with things, uh, help with membership recruitment and such.
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So the business advisory council is really more geared toward getting feedback from the business community very specifically about how are we operating?
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Like, is our job more useful?
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Is the are the things that we, the way that we promote businesses helpful, are the things that we're really missing?
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And as a 1.5 FT organization, it's we can't necessarily say yes, we'll do all the things, but it is meant to help inform our strategic planning and things that will impact how we move forward as an organization.
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So that will be if somebody is out there and says, What is reuse?
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Yeah.
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What is reuse and who are what is what is the whole goal of this membership?
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So there are actually several different definitions of reuse.
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If you look, we got we looked into this about three, four years ago when we had funding to do an impact report.
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So we studied a lot of economic data around the reuse sector and turned it into a model that spit out an environmental impact, saying, like, you know, the the equivalent, the reuse business sector in Minnesota.
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So whether that's folks like yourself who are keeping things out of landfill during the organizing process or people who are running thrift stores or repair shops and things, all of that has the environmental equivalent of about a hundred thousand gas-powered vehicles being off the road.
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So if you were to say, like tomorrow, let's take that's like the greenhouse gas, if you look at it from that perspective, like kind of the climate impact of that.
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It also reuse is amazing because we prevent the use of a lot of water.
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There's a ton of water invested.
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When you like a pair of denim jeans is like 1,800 gallons of water to make because cotton takes lots of water.
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And so when we repair or reuse those, we're eliminating water.
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So the reuse sector in Minnesota, we calculated has the equivalent of like 56 billion bottles of water.
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So like little bottles of water equivalent.
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So you think it's like 16,000, 1,600 Olympic swimming pools.
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So we think about that, and then we also looked at the economic impact.
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So reuse creates about 45,000 direct and indirect jobs in Minnesota.
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So whether that's like yourself or you're in it full-time, or maybe a bookstore that has a used section has had part of that's what they do.
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Okay.
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Um and so we we, when we went to do that report, part of what we had to do was define reuse because uh, you know, some people say, Oh, I recycle things.
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Well, that's that's recycling.
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Recycling is great, that's an important complement to what we do.
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But when we think about reuse, we very much think about we are avoiding, we're we're decreasing waste, which is where a lot of us, and as someone who worked in government for eight years, a lot of what we think about is the waste side.
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But we actually think a lot about the avoidance of taking new resources out of the earth, the new production, all of the environmental impact of those upstream inputs, whether it is the water, the trees, the fibers, the metals, all of those different things, plastic being a oil.
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So we think about reuse as using things in their original or pretty close.
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So, unlike recycling, where you might take a glass bottle and it goes down to a manufacturing plant that melts it down and remakes it into a brand new glass thing or plastic where they shred it and same kind of thing.
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Reuse is pretty close.
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So it can include things like upcycling where you're cutting up textiles to make something new, but you keep it pretty close to the original use, and then you're also helping avoid the extraction of those new resources.
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So that's that's a big part of what we think about.
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That's kind of a technical thing.
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So when we think about what that looks like in day-to-day, it's resale, so secondhand, uh, repair, upcycling, repurposing.
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You're engaged in that in the in the organizing world where you're helping find what are the right homes.
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Can this be reused at this business or this nonprofit that needs used materials?
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So that's uh that's kind of the day-to-day of what it ends up looking like.
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If I wasn't a proud member already, I definitely that little past few minutes has been, I mean, you're in the right spot for what you're so passionate about, what you know.
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I I came to my business um a handful of years ago.
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If you look at even starting at the container store and getting to know organizing at a different level, and then working for someone else, and then working for myself.
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And working for myself, a big thing has been not just dropping off everything at one place after you take a bunch of stuff out of a house during a gleak decluttering day.
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Um, because what I realize, and so I have a home organizing business, space by space organizing.
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I go into people's houses and I help them evaluate space by space what no longer serves them, what and and how best to use their house and to use, you know, to bring a system and function.
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But a lot of stuff has to leave to do that.
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It's just part of this, you know, decluttering.
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And what I see within my industry is almost glamorizing the overconsumption and and glamorizing a very big purge because the glamorizing overconsumption is let me buy a bunch of containers to display all my things.
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And I have places throughout my house that are beautifully displayed of my things.
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And I say I am not anti-stuff, I'm anti-stuff getting in the way of your life.
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But a lot of organizers and a lot of these luxury market organizers, the before and after is like, I have bought 30 new bins just to show you how beautiful my pantry is and how many snacks I have.
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And it's like, do you have a family of 30?
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Because how are you gonna eat these snacks before they go bad?
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I mean, it's it's a lot, and it's a lot of you know, let me show you my beautiful collection of 300 pairs of shoes, and you know, and that's exciting for some people, but it is like we live in a world that we have too much, and what I see and get hired about is people are so overwhelmed by all their stuff.
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Yeah, and it's like we're so marketed to go buy the new thing, there is science behind the dopamine rush of the purchase, of the receipt of the purchase, of you know, I mean, I see so many.
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I have one client that I've been like, if I came every week and just helped you process your returns because she's bad at returning, and it's like she doesn't need the stuff, it's like that would be worth its while.
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But we just we buy, buy, buy and we overstock.
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We have multiples of things we don't need.
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And and for me, it's been like, gosh, there's a really missing opportunity to better redistribute the stuff that leaves the house.
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And then a lot of organizers on Instagram will show just a giant car truck or trunk full of donations, and they're all in a big black plastic bag or whatever, and I know that they're getting dropped off at one spot, probably 90% of the time.
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And if you bring it to that one spot, half of that is now trash because you know, there's a there's a book on it, the Adam Minter um you know, like it doesn't have a resale value, yeah, but it has a reuse value.
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Yeah, and and so it's like I will take the time, uh my focus when I'm in someone's house is to you tell me what stays and what goes, and when I'm here, I will make what use what stays better.
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But what goes, I will take it upon myself when I leave to do my best to be anti-landfill.
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Yeah, and so we're gonna get into in our second segment that, but as far as being a member, I will say that, you know, I have a master's in international development and have spent an enormous amount of time and energy thinking about global issues, and now I spend an enormous amount of time thinking about how to best help somebody's hyperfunction, yeah, a hyper local issue.
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And and I love it and I feel the impact of my service all the time.
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And I I'm just I get jazzed up that this is my life and this is what I'm doing.
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But being part of Reuse, I mean, I didn't market for three years.
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My only spending on outreach was being a member of Reuse.
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I have exhibited at the conference a couple times, and I will say that being part of this community, you mentioned the people, it's just it's people who care and who show up to care.
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And there's the individual memberships, and that's just as welcomed as a corporate membership.
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And I think people feel just as included at any level because this is a group of people who really want to live in a better world and physical environment focus on a better world.
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Of they want to have clear skies and clear rivers and clear, you know, good drinking water.
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They want all of the things that an environment that is less stressed, you know, would would have.
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But they're creative, whether they're in the municipality, you know, county, state government side of things, and they're trying to get less waste from their city members, you know, the the people who they live with in, whether they're, you know, creating a business, a thrift store, whether they're doing a nonprofit, we're gonna get into some specific ones that we like to support that are members.
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And and this will just scratch the surface, but you and me are are working on more to do, like amplify some of these great efforts, but to be in the company of those people, and so all of the events that happen that you guys, that you and Carolyn are, you know, just totally wrangling with ease, um, it is full of people who I've not met a a mean person who likes reuse and is yeah, is there, you know, I've not been like, I don't like you, like I like everybody.
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Yeah, we we actually just had our board meeting recently and one of our board members said you don't necessarily get into this industry to make like tons of money.
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A lot of it is because you have these other drivers and you know, she's very oriented toward helping young parents find things because you're so overwhelmed as a new parent with finding all that stuff.
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And sometimes it's the environment, like I certainly came to the stable with the environmental side.
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That's been my whole life has been the environmental piece.
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But there are lots of other people who come for the social side, you know, fix it clinics, for example, are a great place where it's kind of, you know, you get a lot of retired folks who are like, hey, I want to keep doing something, so they come together and they're just so excited and want to help other people.
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And so I think there's the social side, there's also the economic side of, you know, especially in the last 10 years, as things have gotten more expensive and it's been difficult.
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Secondhand can be a place where people can still participate in finding things, you know, as their kids grow, you gotta get new clothes or whatever it is, or you move into a new ho household and you have to find things, the basics, right?
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I am wearing all secondhand.
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Yes, same.
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My purse.
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My purse is a to me purse.
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I got it on ThreatUp.
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Yeah.
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For an eighth of the cost.
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Yeah.
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You know, this shirt is a is a threat up purchase.
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You know, I love consignment in person and online, there's different ways.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, it's it's a lot of people who enjoy being creative about how they consume just as much as how they how they get rid of stuff.
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And it's not to say that people can't make a living doing it.
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I think there are plenty of people too who do, and I think that's amazing too.
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But the thing I like about it is that a lot of people come into the space with multiple reasons, right?
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It's not just like, okay, we're gonna do this to make money.
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That's I would say very rarely ever just the goal.
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That it is about how do I share a knowledge or a passion that I have, how do I bring people together?
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And that's that's what I love doing.
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I think that's one of the things I with my government background and working with residents for eight years, the thing that I love most about my job now is that I still get to bring people together, whether that's individuals or professionals or all different levels.
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And actually, the thing I love the most is getting people in a room together that aren't normally in a room together and creating those conversations.
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Okay, so we're gonna come back and talk about those people.
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Yes, the time is already flying.
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All right, quick, quick, quick break.
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We'll be right back.
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All right, welcome back to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterston, and today I'm here with Emily Barker, Rius Minnesota Executive Director, and we are gonna talk about some of the members of Rius that I am a big donator to and supporter of.
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And so in the decluttering process, there's a lot there hands down, like you can't get around, there's a lot of trash.
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Yeah, it just happens, and you do your best to.
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I feel that decluttering and the way that I try to approach it with my clients is this is gonna be the worst day that we ever do this.
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You know, like this is an intervention, and hopefully, by seeing how much leaves the house and really addressing everything that you own in this space, you know, space by space, organizing.
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So we're not we're not taking on everything at once when you know we're going through your closet first, we're going through your kitchen, we're going through your pantry, we're going through a space, but we're going through everything in that space.
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And so it's a real eye-opener for people about how much they've got.
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And I call some people shovers.
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It's amazing how much can come out of some of these spaces, you know, like some closets have been so air compressed by, you know, it's like the foam package you get where it's been taken out.
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And so an enormous amount of clothes, and enormous everybody has that box of cords.
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You know, everybody's got so much.
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And and I normalize that for them, but I also, you know, try to effectively redistribute stuff that leaves and take things to the right place.
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Like waste just is what it is.
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Recycling, we can pull recycling things.
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I will say papers, I just think it's important to note on this if you shred papers, that is not recycling anymore.
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It is a hazard in the recycling center to have all those little pieces of paper.
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So shredded paper becomes trash.
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And then there's the hazardous waste.
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And and we had our this is how cool we are.
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We had our annual meeting at a recycling center.
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And I was so impressed with that place.
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So let's talk about the that recycling center that we were at, and just kind of from the waste perspective, we do have a board member who has a waste business.
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Yep, yeah.
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So the facility we were at last fall was the new Ramsey County facility, and they were great hosts.
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And the really cool thing is that they actually host swaps and fix-it clinics there as well.
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So even though the primary driver, every county in the state is required by law to have hazardous waste disposal somewhere in the county, it's population-based.
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So at least one facility though.
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:23.119
And they that is for the light bulb, you know, the mercury things, the paint, all of those things that we just really do not want in our waste disposal facilities, whether that's a landfill or a waste energy facility.
00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:25.599
So all of that needs to go somewhere.
00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:35.839
But then many counties, and we have some awesome members actually in the metro and in other areas like uh Dodge County, up at Duluth, that also have reuse programs.
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:40.799
And so when they built the new facility, they incorporated space to ensure they would have room for reuse activities.
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.319
So it was really fun to be there.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:50.000
They have a store that's all of these uh still has life in them, you know, home products, chemical products.
00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:54.480
They mix paint, they come up with paint colors from the paint that's still good.
00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.119
They they have a connection with repowered, right?
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.960
I think and they're electronics, I believe.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:20:59.359
So yep.
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:13.759
Yeah, so repowered, so electronic waste goes to there, but some places when you drop off your electronic waste, it's just properly recycled, and you can ensure that like a hard drive will be shredded, properly shredded.
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:14.160
Yeah.
00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.960
But there are places like Repowered.
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:18.799
I'm always talking about Repowered.
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:19.440
It's in St.
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.000
Paul.
00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:24.000
You can take your electronics there, give us a little info on them.
00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:26.319
Yeah, so they have been around for a long time.
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:33.359
They are part of an organization that helps work on uh employment opportunities for folks who face barriers to employment.
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:36.160
So usually that has to do with incarceration, past history of that.
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:41.680
And so they are a great place, a training place to get people into what we would generally categorize as green jobs.
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:48.240
So refurbishment is very much a green job, even though we usually hear about energy and transportation, reuse is solidly in the green job world.
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:53.279
And so they work with folks to get them training on proper disassembly.
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:59.759
And sometimes, if it's, you know, especially phones and tablets and laptops, they do refurbish those and then they reset.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.720
Sell them as a way to generate income for the organization.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:09.039
So they have a partnership with Ramsey County and other, you know, anyone from the public can go in, and some things are free.
00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:10.240
Those smaller things are free.
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:11.359
Sometimes you pay for it.
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.920
And some people, you know, wonder why do I have to pay for it?
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.400
It's because there is a real cost to disposal if something can't be refurbished.
00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:24.079
And sometimes that has to do with particular materials, met heavy metals, and things that are in some electronics.
00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.440
But we went on a tour.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.920
They have like so many of those big screen TVs.
00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:31.279
Yep.
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:33.039
There is so much happening.
00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:37.440
And and I love like they deserve our support.
00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.640
You know, I mean they do great work on behalf of our stuff.
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.119
Yeah.
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:42.960
And it's not glamorous.
00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:43.440
No.
00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.960
This is far from those beautiful before and afters in my industry.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:47.680
It it isn't.
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:49.759
Although their fun their shop is very fun to go into.
00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:53.759
My reuse Minnesota Computer is from their shop when we when we got started.
00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.400
That's where I bought my computer used, refurbished.
00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.400
But the cool thing is, so they are they're one of our larger organizations.
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:01.519
There are others in that space.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:05.839
So Twin Cities Free Geek or Free Geek Twin Cities is a smaller organization that's been around.
00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:06.960
Great shop, also.
00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:11.039
And one of their missions, so is to bridge the digital divide.
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:17.359
So they try to make their electronics very accessible for folks who maybe don't have a lot of disposable income, but tech is a reality in our lives.
00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:27.039
We if you don't have access to certain things online, whether it's applying for jobs or email, it can be really difficult to function as an adult or as, you know, as a teen, even with school.
00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:28.319
So much of that is online.
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.440
So their goal is really about bridging the digital divide.
00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:36.720
And so they have a location in Minneapolis that's actually kind of in an area where there's a few others.
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:42.400
I know we're going to maybe talk about building material, but like it's near Better Futures and Habitat Restore in that mini haha area of Minneapolis.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.319
So they're a great organization.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.599
Um and then there's also Tech for Success, which doesn't necessarily sell to the public in the same way.
00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:52.400
They are more uh consumer to classroom.
00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:59.519
So they're focused on helping getting refurbished stuff for teachers in classroom and educational settings, and they have been around for a long time too.
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:04.720
So we've got several folks in the electronics space that are all doing these amazing things.
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:11.279
And reuse has been part of um reuse Minnesota has been part of like legislative pushing forward.
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.759
We're not going to get into the because that could be a show.
00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.559
We were on the phone yesterday, you were telling me about it, and I was like, okay, we'll skip that topic.
00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.480
Look on our website for Right to Repair, and then you can learn more and reach out if you want to know more.
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.799
But you know, there's a lot of life left in most of the tech we get rid of.
00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:34.000
And so being able to properly, you know, remove what's been on there and make it fresh for somebody else.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:46.160
And it's like for all the people who can afford to go and buy the next latest model, there's just as many, if not more, who cannot afford the latest model or the last few latest models.
00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:53.519
So being able to make sure that those items get to somebody that can do something with them is really important.
00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:56.000
And I don't want to leave the business world out of it too.
00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.079
I we have an organized, we have a business that's called Ulta Tech, and they do business to business.
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:07.039
So like if an entity has servers, so that that that level of tech that most of us never interact with, we also have them there on Plymouth.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:14.160
And I I think it's a thing that not a lot of people think about, but it is an incredibly important part of the refurbished world as well.
00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.400
So there's the consumer electronics and then kind of the business level that are that are involved.
00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.359
Okay, we're gonna real quick skip over clothes.
00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:25.839
There's a lot of clothes that leave this fast fashion world that we live in.
00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:26.400
Yeah.
00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:28.640
Uh think before you buy, folks.
00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:31.519
You know, uh reuse great.
00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:33.279
We have great members.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:40.160
You have done a reselling um business seminar that you actually reimbursed us for attending.
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:40.480
Yeah.
00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.440
There was a grant that it was like, well, Pay, we know your time is valuable.
00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.000
I loved that.
00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.720
I felt really cool about that because it was like, thanks for valuing me and my time.
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:53.759
And it was a great presentation by um Kat from Kit Kris.
00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:00.559
And so there she's a member and she was able to share her expertise on reselling from the clothes perspective.
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:16.079
Lots of great thrift stores, and there's lots of stores that if they don't sell within their store, they might have a relationship to make sure that a clothes item is still donated before it gets you know shipped for bulk, and that's its own thing.
00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:16.960
Furniture.
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:17.519
Yeah.
00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:20.240
Bridging, habitat restore.
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:20.880
Yep.
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:22.400
Furniture is a tricky one.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:27.519
You know, there's small the wood items like tables, and those are often easy to get rid of, but couches and bigger stuff.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.519
So bridging is a one that a lot of folks know.
00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:42.400
They help folks, they don't resell, but they help folks who are coming out of maybe situations where they've had housing instability, and so they may be getting into an apartment or a rental, and so they help them get outfitted, and it's not just furniture, they take other household goods as well.
00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.000
But that's a really great place.
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.759
And people can shop with dignity and say this is my allotment.
00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:50.240
It is a um, there's a lot big demand for this.
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:57.759
Yes, there is quite a wait list um for their appointments, but it just shows how much demand there is for your unwanted stuff.
00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:05.599
Yeah, and um I had on here, um, she's not a member, but uh Natalie at my warehouse space who does furniture flipping.
00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:06.000
Yeah.
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:13.519
And we talked all about, I mean, pay her to do it instead of do it because my little spray paint method, I realized it's involved.
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.200
Yeah, and and I mine looks like spray painted.
00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:18.720
Um, you know, it's cute.
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:27.279
But the what the effort that she goes to, but just the quality of pieces from from before versus the quality of the pieces of terrible.
00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:36.720
I can't tell you how many times it's like you want to move something from one room to another in a house, and if you bump it wrong, you've lost the drawer functionality.
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:38.880
You know, it's like the cheapness of quality.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:54.799
So it is great to be able to have um to to look at your items and think, could I, you know, contract somebody to help me reuse this in a new way versus let me throw this one out and then buy something cheaper, but this is the color I want.
00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:59.759
And even if refurbishing or reupholstery is not cheap, you know, it's certainly it's a labor of love.
00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.799
So, reupholsterer as part of our wow.
00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:15.599
But that was like, so we as one of the reuse uh you guys do a lot of tours and really help people get into so being a member, like you can't just call up these places and be like, I want to come and have a two-hour tour.
00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:22.160
Um, but if you're in reuse, Minnesota, you get access to all of these really great tours and you get to see things from a new level.
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:29.759
And the reupholstery is very expensive, but I do have a new respect for it after watching the effort that they go to to reapholster something.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.359
And if you're reupholstering something like you're mentioning, that's a solid wood frame, that's gonna last you way longer.
00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:39.359
And so the long-term cost is not gonna be higher, right?
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:46.559
Because that will, if it's got good bones, that'll last you, versus if you buy buy two cheaper versions of the same couch and they break down in half the time, you know.
00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:51.440
So there's there's that, which we know you know doesn't always work for everybody all the time.
00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:57.839
But if you have that and can make that choice, if money is tight, it's hard to make the argument to invest in something.
00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:03.039
But checking out like the habitat restore, the one the one in the northern metro, they have a good selection of furniture.
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:08.960
So especially if you've got like a young person going into the college or their first apartment, that's like a great place to check.
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:18.079
And my business, we offer for our clients um, if something is of high enough value and worthwhile, we do a profit share reselling and do a lot on marketplace.
00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:22.640
And I love marketplace, I love it to buy from.
00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:27.279
I barely ever buy something new if I don't go to marketplace first.
00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:30.319
And it's amazing what you can get for a deal.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.319
But also then to resell is pretty fun.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:35.599
But so furniture, and then it saves your searches.
00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:44.000
So, you know, if you're like, I kind of want a new couch, I want to, you know, whatever it is, it's and a lot of quality stuff is leaving people's homes via marketplace.
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:47.519
So it's a great place, even if you want to get something reupholstered, yeah.
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:55.680
You know, start there to find something for the people are practically giving away, and then at least your cost for the the first part is pretty low.
00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:01.759
Yeah, that's a great idea, especially if as people are cleaning out like parents or grandparents or their own.
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:10.400
We do a state clearance, we do, and you know, it's like they especially like we're talking from Minnesota, which is America, which is a little overconsumptive.
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:15.759
And so the person who's cleaning out mom or dad's house already has their own five.
00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:16.960
They're already outfitted.
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:17.279
Yep.
00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:21.359
They're like, I have three sets of silverware and do not need two more.
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:30.079
You know, so it is basically just unless you want some sentimental things or to swap what you have, so then even then you still have this excess.
00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:32.240
I mean, it's just there's lots of stuff.
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:33.440
Got a lot of stuff.
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:39.119
Okay, so what about um big appliances and building materials?
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.279
I toured better futures through you guys.
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.960
I mean, some of my favorite days have been you guys' tours.
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:52.400
They they really are just fun and it's a more social thing, and you're getting everybody's putting their best face forward.
00:30:52.559 --> 00:31:08.160
And some of these like Better Futures, similar to Repowered, have really cool work programs where they're taking people who have never felt the sense of belonging in a work environment and and they're holding people accountable.
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:13.839
And we met, I think, at Repowered years ago before I was even a member.
00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:22.640
And the man who spoke to us left such an impression on me for the pride that he felt in the job that he was doing.
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:28.640
And he he wore his um his tokens from being sober with so much pride.
00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:31.359
And he they talked about being there every day at 8 a.m.
00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:37.119
and you know, just being part of something, and so you're like, oh here, do you want this computer to refurbish?
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:47.759
You're you're dropping something off, but it's like I'm so glad that I'm contributing to such a great cause, and Better Futures has that too, and they're really proud of that.
00:31:47.839 --> 00:32:07.200
And then when you do the tours, some of these men who and and uh those that one specifically only employs men for the dynamic, the gender dynamic in the workplace, but uh you can just feel the pride to be able to speak about what they do, and I don't think they've been given that opportunity before.
00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:10.240
So it's really fun to be a consumer of that presentation.
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:18.960
I think something and I think Better Futures talks about this where we are not just a disposable society of things, we are do that with people too, right?
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:23.759
And so it's kind of disposable society of things and people.
00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:27.279
And I think, yeah, it's not a good feeling when you think about it that way.
00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:38.240
It's actually a really important wake-up call to recognize that like a lot of reuse spaces provide uh provide spaces for people who maybe feel left out otherwise.
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:41.839
And I think you're right with the jobs opportunity, you know, that training.
00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:46.240
I mean, the folks I I think both Repowered and Better Futures do like OSHA training.
00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:58.319
So if you can leave that, when you're done with that program and you're ready to go, you're gonna start your own thing or you're gonna go into another workforce, you can come and say, hey, I've got this certification, I've got this training, which can be very costly in other settings.
00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:06.240
And so that's the other thing that's great is a lot of places will provide that next step to prepare people to be ready for other opportunities.
00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:07.599
And that's I think amazing.
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:09.279
I don't think goodwill is a member.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:13.680
No, but uh I know they do similar where it's like the job training thing.
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:19.119
There's a lot of people who are anti-goodwill, and I have not explored the topic extensively.
00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:24.000
For me, um, a lot of places are a lot easier to drop things off than the lines of Goodwill.
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:35.680
So, you know, I mean, if I'm like I've done a lot of Goodwill drops over the the time, but there's there's some that you get stuck in and you're like 45 minutes later, wow, okay.
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:37.920
I always make sure if somebody can call if I need to.
00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:44.079
And then there's one that's like, you know, the the garage door has to close.
00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:49.519
And you know, just and so I'm like, okay, um, but there's a lot easier places to just roll.
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:51.519
I love going to sharing and carrying hands downtown.
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:59.759
It's a home uh shelter for people without a home in Minnesota, and I know that my stuff is gonna go directly to somebody who needs it for no cost.
00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:00.079
Yeah.
00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:02.880
Um, and it's a real easy backup system.
00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:08.960
They're not open Friday mornings, but you know, I can I can just go and know that by the time I get there, I'm in and out in five.
00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:12.320
Um so that convenience is really good for me.
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:22.719
But, you know, Goodwill, I was taught in grad school at the University of Minnesota, I had a nonprofit leadership class that was taught by Michael Worth Davis, who was the longtime CEO of it.
00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:24.480
I don't know, I don't know still.
00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:29.119
I shouldn't even be talking about this for not having my updates, but my goodness, that man left an impression.
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:36.480
He was such a good heart, brilliant guy, totally capable, running a huge organization.
00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:46.159
And when people would say, Oh, well, the CEO makes so much money, I'm like, I want someone who knows what they're doing to be running a huge social impact organization.
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:58.320
Because if you put someone who doesn't know what they're doing, and it's like, why are we not incentivizing people who can run social impact organizations and scale them?
00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:06.000
I want the same level of quality that the the people who can go to corporate, I want that in my social sector.
00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:06.239
Yeah.
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:13.199
But we've just got this backwards way of like, probably because the word's nonprofit, we think it should be not profitable.
00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:13.599
Right.
00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:26.719
And it's just like we gotta, we gotta the nonprofit sector, and this is true not just of the re-roost world, but the nonprofit sector generally is, I think, put to that center the idea of that we can't spend any money on overhead.
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.159
It's like, but overhead are our people, people are our programs.
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:33.679
And so I think that that is a disservice we do within the nonprofit sector.
00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:35.440
I could we could have a whole other podcast about that.
00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:35.920
Yeah.
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:42.800
But yes, I think I think there is most reuse businesses bring some value to the table in different ways.
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:44.800
And so there's valid critiques of different things.
00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:53.360
I do sometimes part of the challenge, and I did a presentation, as I mentioned to you recently, to the professional organizers group.
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:56.639
And one of the challenges is helping with the incoming stream.
00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:58.000
So helping the public understand.
00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:09.840
So that's one thing with reuse Minnesota I love too is that people can call us or email us or look at our directory, and we're happy to say, you know, actually that thing you have, that actually just should go to recycling or wherever.
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:15.360
Or here are we have some creative reuse organizations too that will maybe take those oddball things.
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.400
They usually need them in smaller volumes or by appointment.
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:20.079
But there are outlets for that stuff.
00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:31.440
But I think one of the challenges with a lot of thrift stores and why stuff maybe doesn't always make on the shelf is because people understand that like when you get that free water bottle at an event that you got for free, nobody wants to pay for that, right?
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:33.360
Like they're not gonna put that on the shelf.
00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:51.599
Well, also, I'm in the middle of 15 loads of laundry from my client this week that is uh potentially resellable, donate, you know, rewearable, but not in the state that it left the house because it had been not, you know, touched for many years, a cat involved, uh, so there's a lot of hair.
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:53.119
I've never seen, I don't have a cat.
00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:56.239
I've never seen my dryer get so full so quick.
00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:01.039
I'm like, whoa, yeah, two loads, and that I need to be unloading this every load.
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:02.960
I have a non-shedding dog.
00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:03.519
Yeah.
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:06.719
So um, but I will do that, you know.
00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:16.719
I have I have visions of having a huge redistribution warehouse that takes, you know, and launders everything, yeah, but so many things that get donated pre-laundering.
00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:22.320
I'm not gonna go and buy something with a stain on it, but putting it through the wash can take that out.
00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:22.559
Right.
00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:23.920
And now I might buy it.
00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:28.079
So it's like really being considerate about what you're getting rid of.
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:35.519
I want to just, real quick before we kind of close this out, the better futures, big appliances, building materials.
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:36.800
Can you speak to that?
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:47.840
Yeah, so a lot of times, you know, building materials get forgotten in the reuse world because most people don't interact with them on on a day-to-day basis, like we would do with clothing or you know, your kitchenware.
00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:52.159
And but there's a lot of so the industry will say embodied carbon, right?
00:37:52.239 --> 00:38:08.000
So like environmental benefit of reusing building materials is that trees that you know, the lumber coming in our from our houses right now was maybe cut down a hundred years ago, 75 years ago, and the carbon stored in that, so when you look at like climate reports, reusing lumber has a huge environmental benefit.
00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:18.559
So if you're doing a major remodel and you have the opportunity to have, they do have requirements on like how long the boards need to be, but you can donate used lumber, and especially for some of our older houses like in Minneapolis and St.
00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:25.760
Paul, if you're redoing a space or if you're tearing down a space, actually salvaging all of that lumber can be a huge environmental benefit.
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:31.360
And there are rules about how it can be reused, but many people will take it to build sheds or cabinetry or all sorts of different things.
00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:41.440
I did a new deck and I now have five a five-link fence between my neighbor and my yard, and it's not a full fence, but it's my old deck planks.
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:41.920
Yes.
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:42.719
Exactly.
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:46.800
There were so many delays in my deck uh with some permit stuff that happened.
00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:56.960
By the time the guys came back to start building my deck, I already had a new fence with the old one, and I was like, you gotta get on this for me because we're, you know, we are a fast moving spot around here.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:58.880
And and I, that's my fence.
00:38:59.039 --> 00:38:59.519
That's my deck.
00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:01.760
That's what you you left, and now it's underground.
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:02.079
Yeah.
00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:02.719
Okay.
00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:14.719
Um But better futures, and there's even like a grant or you know, there's a demo situation you can get where if you have them come and demo, you can get a subject.
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:30.000
So yeah, so there's several of the counties offer funding, grant funding for residents who want to either take things for donating to reuse or have a company do the deconstruction, or who incorporate reuse things into a new project.
00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:33.199
And so there are several counties in the metro that offer that now.
00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:37.519
Several of our members do, and we're happy to provide direction based on where people live.
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:39.440
That is very much tied to location.
00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:47.039
But a lot of the counties have done a really great job of taking, saying, like for the last 40 years, we spent a lot of time focused on recycling.
00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:48.000
That's fantastic.
00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:59.840
But we've kind of not done enough on reuse, and so they have really helped in the last five to ten years recreate programs that will support reuse, especially when it comes to building materials, which is really awesome.
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:16.719
So to close that one out, Better Futures, when you go through the tour, there's a shop and you can go in and buy all sorts of cool things that have been removed from people's homes, whether it be an appliance or maybe they had an overstock of purchases or something got delivered and there's a little ding.
00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:20.719
And so the manufacturer is giving it, you know, or giving a second.
00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:24.000
And so it's like there's a lot of different things out there.
00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:33.119
And I think reuse Minnesota is like if you're somebody who is listening and you're like, I want to know more about these different places, I mean, we scratched the surface.
00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:44.880
And you and I have plans to, you know, from the decluttering perspective, to amplify some of our membership and and really kind of celebrate some of the great work more.
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:45.280
Yeah.
00:40:45.440 --> 00:41:01.599
And so we're gonna be putting together presentations, putting together, you know, some things to to highlight them more because there's so much, but just jump on the Reuse Minnesota website just to see some of these and start to explore and also reach out to you and Carolyn.
00:41:01.679 --> 00:41:04.239
You guys are two of the fastest responders.
00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:07.760
I'm always like, whoa, you know, Carolyn, I owe her an email right now.
00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:09.519
Um, shout out to Carolyn.
00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:09.920
Yes.
00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:13.360
Um, huge, uh, who's a new listener, she let me know.
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:13.760
Yes.
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:22.239
Um, but you know, just ask, say, hey, you know, I I'm gonna I'd love a new uh kitchen cabinet for a project I'm doing.
00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:23.440
Where do I go for that?
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:26.320
You guys can just direct people, you know, and and celebrate them.
00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:26.719
Okay.
00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:28.639
When we directory is a great resource.
00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:36.559
We're gonna talk about how to be involved a little bit more, what you might attend, and and then we'll have to close out for the day.
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:48.159
All right, Colleen Watterston, Emily Barker, Sorting Through Life, Space by Space Organizing, Reuse Minnesota, AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota, and we'll be right back.
00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:10.639
All right, welcome back to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterson here on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota, and I am with the very progressive and lovely Emily Barker of Reuse Minnesota.
00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:16.159
And if people are interested in everything that we've been talking about, it's reusemn.org.
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:17.119
Yeah.
00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:17.599
Okay.
00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:26.639
And if you're interested in being a member, so you can be an individual member, you can be a nonprofit member, you can be a business small and big.
00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:28.239
I am a small business member.
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:28.639
Yep.
00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:37.519
I have been for a few years, and I I wear that proudly on my website, space by spaceorganizing.com.
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:47.360
And the membership comes with the benefit of being able to put it on your website proudly, as well as many times to interact with people in person.
00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:56.559
So we started this by talking about how much we love each other and the people who show up around us when we do these cool events.
00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:05.599
And so there's the annual conference once a year in the fall, and that has packed full of really good information.
00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:10.000
You've brought in some really interesting keynote people from out of state.
00:43:10.159 --> 00:43:18.800
Um some people drive from out of state to be part of it because it's packed with such great information, but really good lineup.
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:23.519
But the the complaint I would have is wanting to go to multiple sessions.
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:24.880
We get that every year.
00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:27.039
There's too much too many choices each time.
00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:30.400
And I'm I tell myself, okay, that's I don't feel bad about that.
00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:31.440
It's a good problem.
00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:33.360
It is, but it is a problem for me.
00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:43.119
And then I do exhibit often because I enjoy having a table, having some exposure, and then I have to decide am I at a session, am I at my table?
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:46.639
And it's just very stressful in a great way.
00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:52.559
But um, so the annual conference, but then there's there's the annual member meeting, there's quarterly.
00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:54.559
So we have quarterly member meetings, yep.
00:43:54.800 --> 00:43:59.760
And one thing I will mention is for anyone listening outside of Minnesota, you may or may not know that our weather kind of stings.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:09.840
In February, sometimes so uh that that uh meeting is always virtual, so we welcome people to join us as part of that, and then we have three in-person ones in May.
00:44:09.920 --> 00:44:16.400
We travel, so we go somewhere outside of the Twin Cities, and then August and and uh the annual meeting.
00:44:16.480 --> 00:44:20.719
We are always in the metro, so we try to have a balance and incorporate those tours.
00:44:21.119 --> 00:44:26.239
You've made a robust effort to incorporate more greater Minnesota people, yeah, which is awesome.
00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:33.119
Okay, we have so the member meetings they always have like the last member meeting was at that really fancy recycling center, so much fun.
00:44:33.199 --> 00:44:36.559
And then I went to lunch with a group of people in between.
00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:38.719
It also included some tours.
00:44:39.119 --> 00:44:46.559
So, you know, it's not just oh, a meeting for an hour, like these are social events around reuse with the coolest people in Minnesota.
00:44:46.960 --> 00:44:49.199
And then you have the social events.
00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:53.440
So if that's not social enough, you have no trash talk.
00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:53.920
Yep.
00:44:54.159 --> 00:45:00.400
And we started those because we heard from our members that while they like getting together, like the conference, it is a lot of programming.
00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:05.760
So to your point, you have to pick and you go and you listen, and there isn't necessarily just that time to connect and chat.
00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:17.199
So we started a purely social thing and we partner with our friends in the recycling and composting world, and we call it no trash talk because the idea is that it's for people who want to keep stuff out of the garbage.
00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:23.360
So we are very clever and punny here, but that is a quarterly thing that we started, and we've had a ton of fun with it.
00:45:23.599 --> 00:45:38.159
We usually have 20 to 40 people that will come together, and it's a really great way, regardless of where you are, or even if you're an individual citizen interested in saying, hey, I I want to be part of this for my community, for my neighborhood group, we we welcome anybody.
00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:40.480
I love the individual members.
00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:40.960
Yeah.
00:45:41.280 --> 00:45:49.119
People that don't have their own entity, you know, or maybe work for one and aren't the person who comes on behalf of that, you know.
00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:50.159
I mean, it's it's just great.
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:56.159
It's great to have individuals, and I think it feels very grassroots up to the grass top.
00:45:56.239 --> 00:45:59.920
You know, it feels like this is a very connected network.
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:05.679
And because we're all members and we all the the next thing we do virtual networking too, speaking.
00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:09.760
And you get kind of put in and it's it's always too short.
00:46:10.239 --> 00:46:14.880
Everything's too short, and you just want to meet more people, so that's a really good organization.
00:46:15.039 --> 00:46:20.559
And then last but not least is fix it clinics, mendic clinics, swaps.
00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:23.360
We should collaborate on some of the swaps a little bit more too.
00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:34.239
But my niece and I went to a it wasn't a fix it, but there were all these sewing machines, and it was using scrap material to make a new wallet.
00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:43.119
And so she was 11 at the time, and we went to a co-op in Minneapolis, and Carolyn patiently taught all of us.
00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:44.639
There were like 10 of us there.
00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:50.639
I did not know what to do with that sewing machine, and she so patiently walked around, and my niece had so much fun.
00:46:50.800 --> 00:47:02.079
We both left with uh, you know, I put my business cards in it now, and it was just this really fun way of taking the reuse mindset and turning it into an event.
00:47:02.320 --> 00:47:03.360
Yeah, fun social event.
00:47:03.519 --> 00:47:04.239
Fun social event.
00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:04.800
That's it.
00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:07.119
Always, I'm always looking for the fun angle.
00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:09.039
So like this.
00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:14.880
And somehow we're at a minute left every time, but I think this one flew.
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:16.320
Watch for me and Emily.
00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:17.280
We're gonna be doing more.
00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:22.639
Go to reusemn.org to and especially our events page if you want to find those activities.
00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:24.800
And I think you can come without being a member.
00:47:25.119 --> 00:47:25.920
For most of them, yeah.
00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:28.880
Sometimes we have a little charge for non-members, but yes, definitely.
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:32.719
Look things up, get involved, sign up, be on the email list.
00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:34.000
They don't spam you.
00:47:34.079 --> 00:47:36.639
You just get to come and be part of cool things.
00:47:36.800 --> 00:47:52.239
And then for myself, space by spaceorganizing.com, we also have a brand new website for this uh show, sortingthroughlife.com, to go and watch all of our episodes and listen to all the things that um we've been up to.
00:47:52.400 --> 00:48:01.440
But home organizing, decluttering, being mindful of where your stuff goes and the world that we want to live in together.
00:48:01.679 --> 00:48:05.679
So thank you for being here with me and for leading an excellent organization.
00:48:05.920 --> 00:48:08.000
And thank you all for listening.
00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:08.559
Thanks for watching.
00:48:08.800 --> 00:48:10.400
This is Sorting Through Life.
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:12.320
We'll see you next time.
00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:12.000
Welcome, welcome to Starting Through Life with Colleen Watterston on AM950, the progressive voice of Minnesota.
00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:26.480
I am Colleen Waterston, your host, and the owner and lead organizer at Space by Space Organizing, a twin cities-based home organizing business and proud member of Reuse Minnesota.
00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:35.200
And today I am so excited to have executive director of Reuse Minnesota and my friend Emily Barker.
00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:36.240
Hi, Colleen.
00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:36.960
Good morning.
00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.119
I will say we got together for lunch to talk about this episode.
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:45.280
And I think four hours later we hadn't talked about the episode.
00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:46.240
Just a little bit.
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:50.000
It was like the the restaurant was turning over to dinner.
00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:51.439
We stayed another minute.
00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:53.520
I think they were gonna bring us a menu.
00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:57.039
Um but they were very lovely to us.
00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:03.600
Um and and then we've talked since about the episode, but at the heart of it, I enjoy you as a person.
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:08.879
And so we will stay on point for our 48 quick minutes that we get here.
00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:21.200
But so many things to talk about, and um and you are just one of those people that um I love being around and I love what you do, and I love the energy that you do what you do with.
00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:39.760
I think um we'll tell everybody about Reuse Minnesota, but it's you and Carolyn who run this thing and what you guys do, and with every conference or event or thing that I attend with you guys, you do so without um like an energy that's like stressed.
00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:54.480
You just are you're there to serve, you bring a lot of cool people together, you bring a lot of cool topics together, and every time I'm around, I'm just it it feels so easygoing, and yet it's a very high level of what you guys deliver for us members.
00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:58.319
So if people want to be part of that, what is Reuse Minnesota?
00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:00.959
Yeah, well, thanks for that very kind intro.
00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:10.639
I feel similar, and I want to say that I think part of that energy comes from the people who show up because I think people in the reuse world and especially it tends to be very collaborative.
00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:16.400
So I think people come into it with a very like, let's get let's do this together kind of attitude, and that helps.
00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.599
Uh but reuse Minnesota is a nonprofit that was founded in 2012.
00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:27.759
We actually originally started as a trade association, so for people who are parts of different, you know, like Chamber of Commerce type groups, we started off as a 501c6.
00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:33.919
And I think they the not folks who were starting it realized kind of quickly that that maybe wasn't the best model for us.
00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:39.360
So we transitioned to a 501c3, so a more traditional nonprofit that people are familiar with in 2016.
00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:40.080
Interesting.
00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.400
So who were the original members that have trained?
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:42.879
Yeah.
00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.240
So they were originally the pollution control was heavily involved.
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:48.879
So yeah, they had staff who helped get it off the ground.
00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:55.360
There were other folks from like the University of Minnesota and other reuse businesses, rental shops that helped get it off the ground.
00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.080
So the organization was completely volunteer run for the first eight years.
00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.400
And that was folks who were just super dedicated and fantastically invested in the reuse world.
00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:12.719
And so they started off and recruiting members, you know, it's tricky when you're a new organization, right?
00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.159
And getting people to know you.
00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:19.199
And part of it with grants, that's what somewhat drives like it's harder as a C6.
00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:25.199
So when you're a 501c3, you can do more of those grants and do more education and more focus.
00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.800
So we still are a member-based organization, as you have mentioned.
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:36.000
And that is uh such a core part of who we are because it helps us help the reuse sector in very unique ways.
00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:47.120
But we also have this component as a traditional nonprofit of education and sharing resources and being that voice in the community that says, hey, yeah, did you know about this?
00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:48.319
We're happy to connect you.
00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:52.080
So we had staff came on in 2021.
00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:56.000
So Carolyn and I are approaching very quickly, five years, which is kind of fun.
00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:03.439
So we have been, we've both been working with the organization since 2021, and that helped shift and allow us to do some more regular programming.
00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:04.879
I do want to give a shout out.
00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:07.439
We have an amazing board and always have since I've started.
00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:08.960
We have a fantastic group of humans.
00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.759
So while Carolyn and I are the primary face, a lot of people see, we have a number of folks who involve.
00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:19.040
So long term, if people do or have interest, that's a thing that people can get involved with as well.
00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:24.399
We have a 12-member board, so it's kind of a hybrid of working, but that is a key part of how we operate as well.
00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.240
And then of course we have volunteers for different things.
00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:28.480
But yeah, we business advisory board.
00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.720
Yes, that is I'm I didn't apply.
00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.800
I just it was like, I want to, but I the capacity.
00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:35.920
I understand.
00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:39.839
And yeah, so we just uh we haven't made our public announcement about the members yet.
00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:55.360
That's coming very soon, but we just launched a business advisory council, and this is meant to be a space for folks who just don't have the capacity to dedicate to a board because we do ask a decent amount of our board members to be at events, help with things, uh, help with membership recruitment and such.
00:04:55.600 --> 00:05:03.920
So the business advisory council is really more geared toward getting feedback from the business community very specifically about how are we operating?
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:05.519
Like, is our job more useful?
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:10.639
Is the are the things that we, the way that we promote businesses helpful, are the things that we're really missing?
00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:23.519
And as a 1.5 FT organization, it's we can't necessarily say yes, we'll do all the things, but it is meant to help inform our strategic planning and things that will impact how we move forward as an organization.
00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:28.240
So that will be if somebody is out there and says, What is reuse?
00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:29.040
Yeah.
00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:35.360
What is reuse and who are what is what is the whole goal of this membership?
00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.959
So there are actually several different definitions of reuse.
00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:45.279
If you look, we got we looked into this about three, four years ago when we had funding to do an impact report.
00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:58.160
So we studied a lot of economic data around the reuse sector and turned it into a model that spit out an environmental impact, saying, like, you know, the the equivalent, the reuse business sector in Minnesota.
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:13.439
So whether that's folks like yourself who are keeping things out of landfill during the organizing process or people who are running thrift stores or repair shops and things, all of that has the environmental equivalent of about a hundred thousand gas-powered vehicles being off the road.
00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:20.399
So if you were to say, like tomorrow, let's take that's like the greenhouse gas, if you look at it from that perspective, like kind of the climate impact of that.
00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:24.480
It also reuse is amazing because we prevent the use of a lot of water.
00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:25.759
There's a ton of water invested.
00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:31.120
When you like a pair of denim jeans is like 1,800 gallons of water to make because cotton takes lots of water.
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.800
And so when we repair or reuse those, we're eliminating water.
00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:41.279
So the reuse sector in Minnesota, we calculated has the equivalent of like 56 billion bottles of water.
00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:43.199
So like little bottles of water equivalent.
00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.639
So you think it's like 16,000, 1,600 Olympic swimming pools.
00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:51.040
So we think about that, and then we also looked at the economic impact.
00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:55.360
So reuse creates about 45,000 direct and indirect jobs in Minnesota.
00:06:55.600 --> 00:07:02.000
So whether that's like yourself or you're in it full-time, or maybe a bookstore that has a used section has had part of that's what they do.
00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:02.639
Okay.
00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:12.959
Um and so we we, when we went to do that report, part of what we had to do was define reuse because uh, you know, some people say, Oh, I recycle things.
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:14.079
Well, that's that's recycling.
00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.600
Recycling is great, that's an important complement to what we do.
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:28.639
But when we think about reuse, we very much think about we are avoiding, we're we're decreasing waste, which is where a lot of us, and as someone who worked in government for eight years, a lot of what we think about is the waste side.
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:45.199
But we actually think a lot about the avoidance of taking new resources out of the earth, the new production, all of the environmental impact of those upstream inputs, whether it is the water, the trees, the fibers, the metals, all of those different things, plastic being a oil.
00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:50.800
So we think about reuse as using things in their original or pretty close.
00:07:50.959 --> 00:08:01.519
So, unlike recycling, where you might take a glass bottle and it goes down to a manufacturing plant that melts it down and remakes it into a brand new glass thing or plastic where they shred it and same kind of thing.
00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:03.120
Reuse is pretty close.
00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:13.120
So it can include things like upcycling where you're cutting up textiles to make something new, but you keep it pretty close to the original use, and then you're also helping avoid the extraction of those new resources.
00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.839
So that's that's a big part of what we think about.
00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:18.959
That's kind of a technical thing.
00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:28.160
So when we think about what that looks like in day-to-day, it's resale, so secondhand, uh, repair, upcycling, repurposing.
00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:35.360
You're engaged in that in the in the organizing world where you're helping find what are the right homes.
00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:39.360
Can this be reused at this business or this nonprofit that needs used materials?
00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.919
So that's uh that's kind of the day-to-day of what it ends up looking like.
00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:55.279
If I wasn't a proud member already, I definitely that little past few minutes has been, I mean, you're in the right spot for what you're so passionate about, what you know.
00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:59.919
I I came to my business um a handful of years ago.
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:08.799
If you look at even starting at the container store and getting to know organizing at a different level, and then working for someone else, and then working for myself.
00:09:08.960 --> 00:09:18.720
And working for myself, a big thing has been not just dropping off everything at one place after you take a bunch of stuff out of a house during a gleak decluttering day.
00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:25.279
Um, because what I realize, and so I have a home organizing business, space by space organizing.
00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:38.320
I go into people's houses and I help them evaluate space by space what no longer serves them, what and and how best to use their house and to use, you know, to bring a system and function.
00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:41.120
But a lot of stuff has to leave to do that.
00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.320
It's just part of this, you know, decluttering.
00:09:44.720 --> 00:10:03.840
And what I see within my industry is almost glamorizing the overconsumption and and glamorizing a very big purge because the glamorizing overconsumption is let me buy a bunch of containers to display all my things.
00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.799
And I have places throughout my house that are beautifully displayed of my things.
00:10:08.879 --> 00:10:13.200
And I say I am not anti-stuff, I'm anti-stuff getting in the way of your life.
00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:26.159
But a lot of organizers and a lot of these luxury market organizers, the before and after is like, I have bought 30 new bins just to show you how beautiful my pantry is and how many snacks I have.
00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:29.120
And it's like, do you have a family of 30?
00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.320
Because how are you gonna eat these snacks before they go bad?
00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:55.360
I mean, it's it's a lot, and it's a lot of you know, let me show you my beautiful collection of 300 pairs of shoes, and you know, and that's exciting for some people, but it is like we live in a world that we have too much, and what I see and get hired about is people are so overwhelmed by all their stuff.
00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:08.399
Yeah, and it's like we're so marketed to go buy the new thing, there is science behind the dopamine rush of the purchase, of the receipt of the purchase, of you know, I mean, I see so many.
00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:21.039
I have one client that I've been like, if I came every week and just helped you process your returns because she's bad at returning, and it's like she doesn't need the stuff, it's like that would be worth its while.
00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:25.200
But we just we buy, buy, buy and we overstock.
00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:28.000
We have multiples of things we don't need.
00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:35.519
And and for me, it's been like, gosh, there's a really missing opportunity to better redistribute the stuff that leaves the house.
00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:52.159
And then a lot of organizers on Instagram will show just a giant car truck or trunk full of donations, and they're all in a big black plastic bag or whatever, and I know that they're getting dropped off at one spot, probably 90% of the time.
00:11:52.399 --> 00:12:05.360
And if you bring it to that one spot, half of that is now trash because you know, there's a there's a book on it, the Adam Minter um you know, like it doesn't have a resale value, yeah, but it has a reuse value.
00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:19.120
Yeah, and and so it's like I will take the time, uh my focus when I'm in someone's house is to you tell me what stays and what goes, and when I'm here, I will make what use what stays better.
00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:25.440
But what goes, I will take it upon myself when I leave to do my best to be anti-landfill.
00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:48.399
Yeah, and so we're gonna get into in our second segment that, but as far as being a member, I will say that, you know, I have a master's in international development and have spent an enormous amount of time and energy thinking about global issues, and now I spend an enormous amount of time thinking about how to best help somebody's hyperfunction, yeah, a hyper local issue.
00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:53.200
And and I love it and I feel the impact of my service all the time.
00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:57.120
And I I'm just I get jazzed up that this is my life and this is what I'm doing.
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.639
But being part of Reuse, I mean, I didn't market for three years.
00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:05.840
My only spending on outreach was being a member of Reuse.
00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:17.440
I have exhibited at the conference a couple times, and I will say that being part of this community, you mentioned the people, it's just it's people who care and who show up to care.
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:23.039
And there's the individual memberships, and that's just as welcomed as a corporate membership.
00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:37.440
And I think people feel just as included at any level because this is a group of people who really want to live in a better world and physical environment focus on a better world.
00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:43.840
Of they want to have clear skies and clear rivers and clear, you know, good drinking water.
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:49.919
They want all of the things that an environment that is less stressed, you know, would would have.
00:13:50.080 --> 00:14:13.519
But they're creative, whether they're in the municipality, you know, county, state government side of things, and they're trying to get less waste from their city members, you know, the the people who they live with in, whether they're, you know, creating a business, a thrift store, whether they're doing a nonprofit, we're gonna get into some specific ones that we like to support that are members.
00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:42.639
And and this will just scratch the surface, but you and me are are working on more to do, like amplify some of these great efforts, but to be in the company of those people, and so all of the events that happen that you guys, that you and Carolyn are, you know, just totally wrangling with ease, um, it is full of people who I've not met a a mean person who likes reuse and is yeah, is there, you know, I've not been like, I don't like you, like I like everybody.
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:51.279
Yeah, we we actually just had our board meeting recently and one of our board members said you don't necessarily get into this industry to make like tons of money.
00:14:51.360 --> 00:15:02.480
A lot of it is because you have these other drivers and you know, she's very oriented toward helping young parents find things because you're so overwhelmed as a new parent with finding all that stuff.
00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:07.360
And sometimes it's the environment, like I certainly came to the stable with the environmental side.
00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:10.480
That's been my whole life has been the environmental piece.
00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:25.200
But there are lots of other people who come for the social side, you know, fix it clinics, for example, are a great place where it's kind of, you know, you get a lot of retired folks who are like, hey, I want to keep doing something, so they come together and they're just so excited and want to help other people.
00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:35.759
And so I think there's the social side, there's also the economic side of, you know, especially in the last 10 years, as things have gotten more expensive and it's been difficult.
00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:48.240
Secondhand can be a place where people can still participate in finding things, you know, as their kids grow, you gotta get new clothes or whatever it is, or you move into a new ho household and you have to find things, the basics, right?
00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.080
I am wearing all secondhand.
00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:51.039
Yes, same.
00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:51.919
My purse.
00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:53.919
My purse is a to me purse.
00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:55.200
I got it on ThreatUp.
00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:55.440
Yeah.
00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:56.879
For an eighth of the cost.
00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:57.200
Yeah.
00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.159
You know, this shirt is a is a threat up purchase.
00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.480
You know, I love consignment in person and online, there's different ways.
00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:04.879
Yeah.
00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:14.159
Yeah, it's it's a lot of people who enjoy being creative about how they consume just as much as how they how they get rid of stuff.
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:17.120
And it's not to say that people can't make a living doing it.
00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:20.480
I think there are plenty of people too who do, and I think that's amazing too.
00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:27.039
But the thing I like about it is that a lot of people come into the space with multiple reasons, right?
00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.759
It's not just like, okay, we're gonna do this to make money.
00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:33.679
That's I would say very rarely ever just the goal.
00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:39.600
That it is about how do I share a knowledge or a passion that I have, how do I bring people together?
00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.440
And that's that's what I love doing.
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:54.240
I think that's one of the things I with my government background and working with residents for eight years, the thing that I love most about my job now is that I still get to bring people together, whether that's individuals or professionals or all different levels.
00:16:54.320 --> 00:17:01.200
And actually, the thing I love the most is getting people in a room together that aren't normally in a room together and creating those conversations.
00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.840
Okay, so we're gonna come back and talk about those people.
00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:05.680
Yes, the time is already flying.
00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:07.359
All right, quick, quick, quick break.
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:08.960
We'll be right back.
00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:42.720
All right, welcome back to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterston, and today I'm here with Emily Barker, Rius Minnesota Executive Director, and we are gonna talk about some of the members of Rius that I am a big donator to and supporter of.
00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:50.720
And so in the decluttering process, there's a lot there hands down, like you can't get around, there's a lot of trash.
00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:55.200
Yeah, it just happens, and you do your best to.
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:04.799
I feel that decluttering and the way that I try to approach it with my clients is this is gonna be the worst day that we ever do this.
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:17.759
You know, like this is an intervention, and hopefully, by seeing how much leaves the house and really addressing everything that you own in this space, you know, space by space, organizing.
00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:29.039
So we're not we're not taking on everything at once when you know we're going through your closet first, we're going through your kitchen, we're going through your pantry, we're going through a space, but we're going through everything in that space.
00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:34.319
And so it's a real eye-opener for people about how much they've got.
00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:36.079
And I call some people shovers.
00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:48.160
It's amazing how much can come out of some of these spaces, you know, like some closets have been so air compressed by, you know, it's like the foam package you get where it's been taken out.
00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:53.759
And so an enormous amount of clothes, and enormous everybody has that box of cords.
00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.920
You know, everybody's got so much.
00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:06.400
And and I normalize that for them, but I also, you know, try to effectively redistribute stuff that leaves and take things to the right place.
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:08.960
Like waste just is what it is.
00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:12.640
Recycling, we can pull recycling things.
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:20.640
I will say papers, I just think it's important to note on this if you shred papers, that is not recycling anymore.
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:25.279
It is a hazard in the recycling center to have all those little pieces of paper.
00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:27.920
So shredded paper becomes trash.
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.400
And then there's the hazardous waste.
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:33.680
And and we had our this is how cool we are.
00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:38.319
We had our annual meeting at a recycling center.
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.640
And I was so impressed with that place.
00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:50.480
So let's talk about the that recycling center that we were at, and just kind of from the waste perspective, we do have a board member who has a waste business.
00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:51.839
Yep, yeah.
00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:58.480
So the facility we were at last fall was the new Ramsey County facility, and they were great hosts.
00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:03.359
And the really cool thing is that they actually host swaps and fix-it clinics there as well.
00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:10.079
So even though the primary driver, every county in the state is required by law to have hazardous waste disposal somewhere in the county, it's population-based.
00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.079
So at least one facility though.
00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:23.119
And they that is for the light bulb, you know, the mercury things, the paint, all of those things that we just really do not want in our waste disposal facilities, whether that's a landfill or a waste energy facility.
00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:25.599
So all of that needs to go somewhere.
00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:35.839
But then many counties, and we have some awesome members actually in the metro and in other areas like uh Dodge County, up at Duluth, that also have reuse programs.
00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:40.799
And so when they built the new facility, they incorporated space to ensure they would have room for reuse activities.
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:42.319
So it was really fun to be there.
00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:50.000
They have a store that's all of these uh still has life in them, you know, home products, chemical products.
00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:54.480
They mix paint, they come up with paint colors from the paint that's still good.
00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.119
They they have a connection with repowered, right?
00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.960
I think and they're electronics, I believe.
00:20:59.039 --> 00:20:59.359
So yep.
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:13.759
Yeah, so repowered, so electronic waste goes to there, but some places when you drop off your electronic waste, it's just properly recycled, and you can ensure that like a hard drive will be shredded, properly shredded.
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:14.160
Yeah.
00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.960
But there are places like Repowered.
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:18.799
I'm always talking about Repowered.
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:19.440
It's in St.
00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:20.000
Paul.
00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:24.000
You can take your electronics there, give us a little info on them.
00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:26.319
Yeah, so they have been around for a long time.
00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:33.359
They are part of an organization that helps work on uh employment opportunities for folks who face barriers to employment.
00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:36.160
So usually that has to do with incarceration, past history of that.
00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:41.680
And so they are a great place, a training place to get people into what we would generally categorize as green jobs.
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:48.240
So refurbishment is very much a green job, even though we usually hear about energy and transportation, reuse is solidly in the green job world.
00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:53.279
And so they work with folks to get them training on proper disassembly.
00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:59.759
And sometimes, if it's, you know, especially phones and tablets and laptops, they do refurbish those and then they reset.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.720
Sell them as a way to generate income for the organization.
00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:09.039
So they have a partnership with Ramsey County and other, you know, anyone from the public can go in, and some things are free.
00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:10.240
Those smaller things are free.
00:22:10.319 --> 00:22:11.359
Sometimes you pay for it.
00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.920
And some people, you know, wonder why do I have to pay for it?
00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.400
It's because there is a real cost to disposal if something can't be refurbished.
00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:24.079
And sometimes that has to do with particular materials, met heavy metals, and things that are in some electronics.
00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.440
But we went on a tour.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.920
They have like so many of those big screen TVs.
00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:31.279
Yep.
00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:33.039
There is so much happening.
00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:37.440
And and I love like they deserve our support.
00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:40.640
You know, I mean they do great work on behalf of our stuff.
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:41.119
Yeah.
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:42.960
And it's not glamorous.
00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:43.440
No.
00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.960
This is far from those beautiful before and afters in my industry.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:47.680
It it isn't.
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:49.759
Although their fun their shop is very fun to go into.
00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:53.759
My reuse Minnesota Computer is from their shop when we when we got started.
00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:56.400
That's where I bought my computer used, refurbished.
00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.400
But the cool thing is, so they are they're one of our larger organizations.
00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:01.519
There are others in that space.
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:05.839
So Twin Cities Free Geek or Free Geek Twin Cities is a smaller organization that's been around.
00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:06.960
Great shop, also.
00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:11.039
And one of their missions, so is to bridge the digital divide.
00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:17.359
So they try to make their electronics very accessible for folks who maybe don't have a lot of disposable income, but tech is a reality in our lives.
00:23:17.519 --> 00:23:27.039
We if you don't have access to certain things online, whether it's applying for jobs or email, it can be really difficult to function as an adult or as, you know, as a teen, even with school.
00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:28.319
So much of that is online.
00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:31.440
So their goal is really about bridging the digital divide.
00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:36.720
And so they have a location in Minneapolis that's actually kind of in an area where there's a few others.
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:42.400
I know we're going to maybe talk about building material, but like it's near Better Futures and Habitat Restore in that mini haha area of Minneapolis.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.319
So they're a great organization.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:49.599
Um and then there's also Tech for Success, which doesn't necessarily sell to the public in the same way.
00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:52.400
They are more uh consumer to classroom.
00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:59.519
So they're focused on helping getting refurbished stuff for teachers in classroom and educational settings, and they have been around for a long time too.
00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:04.720
So we've got several folks in the electronics space that are all doing these amazing things.
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:11.279
And reuse has been part of um reuse Minnesota has been part of like legislative pushing forward.
00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:13.759
We're not going to get into the because that could be a show.
00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.559
We were on the phone yesterday, you were telling me about it, and I was like, okay, we'll skip that topic.
00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.480
Look on our website for Right to Repair, and then you can learn more and reach out if you want to know more.
00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:26.799
But you know, there's a lot of life left in most of the tech we get rid of.
00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:34.000
And so being able to properly, you know, remove what's been on there and make it fresh for somebody else.
00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:46.160
And it's like for all the people who can afford to go and buy the next latest model, there's just as many, if not more, who cannot afford the latest model or the last few latest models.
00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:53.519
So being able to make sure that those items get to somebody that can do something with them is really important.
00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:56.000
And I don't want to leave the business world out of it too.
00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.079
I we have an organized, we have a business that's called Ulta Tech, and they do business to business.
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:07.039
So like if an entity has servers, so that that that level of tech that most of us never interact with, we also have them there on Plymouth.
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:14.160
And I I think it's a thing that not a lot of people think about, but it is an incredibly important part of the refurbished world as well.
00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:18.400
So there's the consumer electronics and then kind of the business level that are that are involved.
00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:21.359
Okay, we're gonna real quick skip over clothes.
00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:25.839
There's a lot of clothes that leave this fast fashion world that we live in.
00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:26.400
Yeah.
00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:28.640
Uh think before you buy, folks.
00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:31.519
You know, uh reuse great.
00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:33.279
We have great members.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:40.160
You have done a reselling um business seminar that you actually reimbursed us for attending.
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:40.480
Yeah.
00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:43.440
There was a grant that it was like, well, Pay, we know your time is valuable.
00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.000
I loved that.
00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.720
I felt really cool about that because it was like, thanks for valuing me and my time.
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:53.759
And it was a great presentation by um Kat from Kit Kris.
00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:00.559
And so there she's a member and she was able to share her expertise on reselling from the clothes perspective.
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:16.079
Lots of great thrift stores, and there's lots of stores that if they don't sell within their store, they might have a relationship to make sure that a clothes item is still donated before it gets you know shipped for bulk, and that's its own thing.
00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:16.960
Furniture.
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:17.519
Yeah.
00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:20.240
Bridging, habitat restore.
00:26:20.480 --> 00:26:20.880
Yep.
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:22.400
Furniture is a tricky one.
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:27.519
You know, there's small the wood items like tables, and those are often easy to get rid of, but couches and bigger stuff.
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:29.519
So bridging is a one that a lot of folks know.
00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:42.400
They help folks, they don't resell, but they help folks who are coming out of maybe situations where they've had housing instability, and so they may be getting into an apartment or a rental, and so they help them get outfitted, and it's not just furniture, they take other household goods as well.
00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:44.000
But that's a really great place.
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.759
And people can shop with dignity and say this is my allotment.
00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:50.240
It is a um, there's a lot big demand for this.
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:57.759
Yes, there is quite a wait list um for their appointments, but it just shows how much demand there is for your unwanted stuff.
00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:05.599
Yeah, and um I had on here, um, she's not a member, but uh Natalie at my warehouse space who does furniture flipping.
00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:06.000
Yeah.
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:13.519
And we talked all about, I mean, pay her to do it instead of do it because my little spray paint method, I realized it's involved.
00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:17.200
Yeah, and and I mine looks like spray painted.
00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:18.720
Um, you know, it's cute.
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:27.279
But the what the effort that she goes to, but just the quality of pieces from from before versus the quality of the pieces of terrible.
00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:36.720
I can't tell you how many times it's like you want to move something from one room to another in a house, and if you bump it wrong, you've lost the drawer functionality.
00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:38.880
You know, it's like the cheapness of quality.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:54.799
So it is great to be able to have um to to look at your items and think, could I, you know, contract somebody to help me reuse this in a new way versus let me throw this one out and then buy something cheaper, but this is the color I want.
00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:59.759
And even if refurbishing or reupholstery is not cheap, you know, it's certainly it's a labor of love.
00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.799
So, reupholsterer as part of our wow.
00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:15.599
But that was like, so we as one of the reuse uh you guys do a lot of tours and really help people get into so being a member, like you can't just call up these places and be like, I want to come and have a two-hour tour.
00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:22.160
Um, but if you're in reuse, Minnesota, you get access to all of these really great tours and you get to see things from a new level.
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:29.759
And the reupholstery is very expensive, but I do have a new respect for it after watching the effort that they go to to reapholster something.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.359
And if you're reupholstering something like you're mentioning, that's a solid wood frame, that's gonna last you way longer.
00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:39.359
And so the long-term cost is not gonna be higher, right?
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:46.559
Because that will, if it's got good bones, that'll last you, versus if you buy buy two cheaper versions of the same couch and they break down in half the time, you know.
00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:51.440
So there's there's that, which we know you know doesn't always work for everybody all the time.
00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:57.839
But if you have that and can make that choice, if money is tight, it's hard to make the argument to invest in something.
00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:03.039
But checking out like the habitat restore, the one the one in the northern metro, they have a good selection of furniture.
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:08.960
So especially if you've got like a young person going into the college or their first apartment, that's like a great place to check.
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:18.079
And my business, we offer for our clients um, if something is of high enough value and worthwhile, we do a profit share reselling and do a lot on marketplace.
00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:22.640
And I love marketplace, I love it to buy from.
00:29:22.960 --> 00:29:27.279
I barely ever buy something new if I don't go to marketplace first.
00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:30.319
And it's amazing what you can get for a deal.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.319
But also then to resell is pretty fun.
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:35.599
But so furniture, and then it saves your searches.
00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:44.000
So, you know, if you're like, I kind of want a new couch, I want to, you know, whatever it is, it's and a lot of quality stuff is leaving people's homes via marketplace.
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:47.519
So it's a great place, even if you want to get something reupholstered, yeah.
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:55.680
You know, start there to find something for the people are practically giving away, and then at least your cost for the the first part is pretty low.
00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:01.759
Yeah, that's a great idea, especially if as people are cleaning out like parents or grandparents or their own.
00:30:02.079 --> 00:30:10.400
We do a state clearance, we do, and you know, it's like they especially like we're talking from Minnesota, which is America, which is a little overconsumptive.
00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:15.759
And so the person who's cleaning out mom or dad's house already has their own five.
00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:16.960
They're already outfitted.
00:30:17.119 --> 00:30:17.279
Yep.
00:30:17.519 --> 00:30:21.359
They're like, I have three sets of silverware and do not need two more.
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:30.079
You know, so it is basically just unless you want some sentimental things or to swap what you have, so then even then you still have this excess.
00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:32.240
I mean, it's just there's lots of stuff.
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:33.440
Got a lot of stuff.
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:39.119
Okay, so what about um big appliances and building materials?
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.279
I toured better futures through you guys.
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.960
I mean, some of my favorite days have been you guys' tours.
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:52.400
They they really are just fun and it's a more social thing, and you're getting everybody's putting their best face forward.
00:30:52.559 --> 00:31:08.160
And some of these like Better Futures, similar to Repowered, have really cool work programs where they're taking people who have never felt the sense of belonging in a work environment and and they're holding people accountable.
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:13.839
And we met, I think, at Repowered years ago before I was even a member.
00:31:14.720 --> 00:31:22.640
And the man who spoke to us left such an impression on me for the pride that he felt in the job that he was doing.
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:28.640
And he he wore his um his tokens from being sober with so much pride.
00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:31.359
And he they talked about being there every day at 8 a.m.
00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:37.119
and you know, just being part of something, and so you're like, oh here, do you want this computer to refurbish?
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:47.759
You're you're dropping something off, but it's like I'm so glad that I'm contributing to such a great cause, and Better Futures has that too, and they're really proud of that.
00:31:47.839 --> 00:32:07.200
And then when you do the tours, some of these men who and and uh those that one specifically only employs men for the dynamic, the gender dynamic in the workplace, but uh you can just feel the pride to be able to speak about what they do, and I don't think they've been given that opportunity before.
00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:10.240
So it's really fun to be a consumer of that presentation.
00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:18.960
I think something and I think Better Futures talks about this where we are not just a disposable society of things, we are do that with people too, right?
00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:23.759
And so it's kind of disposable society of things and people.
00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:27.279
And I think, yeah, it's not a good feeling when you think about it that way.
00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:38.240
It's actually a really important wake-up call to recognize that like a lot of reuse spaces provide uh provide spaces for people who maybe feel left out otherwise.
00:32:38.400 --> 00:32:41.839
And I think you're right with the jobs opportunity, you know, that training.
00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:46.240
I mean, the folks I I think both Repowered and Better Futures do like OSHA training.
00:32:46.319 --> 00:32:58.319
So if you can leave that, when you're done with that program and you're ready to go, you're gonna start your own thing or you're gonna go into another workforce, you can come and say, hey, I've got this certification, I've got this training, which can be very costly in other settings.
00:32:58.400 --> 00:33:06.240
And so that's the other thing that's great is a lot of places will provide that next step to prepare people to be ready for other opportunities.
00:33:06.400 --> 00:33:07.599
And that's I think amazing.
00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:09.279
I don't think goodwill is a member.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:13.680
No, but uh I know they do similar where it's like the job training thing.
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:19.119
There's a lot of people who are anti-goodwill, and I have not explored the topic extensively.
00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:24.000
For me, um, a lot of places are a lot easier to drop things off than the lines of Goodwill.
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:35.680
So, you know, I mean, if I'm like I've done a lot of Goodwill drops over the the time, but there's there's some that you get stuck in and you're like 45 minutes later, wow, okay.
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:37.920
I always make sure if somebody can call if I need to.
00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:44.079
And then there's one that's like, you know, the the garage door has to close.
00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:49.519
And you know, just and so I'm like, okay, um, but there's a lot easier places to just roll.
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:51.519
I love going to sharing and carrying hands downtown.
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:59.759
It's a home uh shelter for people without a home in Minnesota, and I know that my stuff is gonna go directly to somebody who needs it for no cost.
00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:00.079
Yeah.
00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:02.880
Um, and it's a real easy backup system.
00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:08.960
They're not open Friday mornings, but you know, I can I can just go and know that by the time I get there, I'm in and out in five.
00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:12.320
Um so that convenience is really good for me.
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:22.719
But, you know, Goodwill, I was taught in grad school at the University of Minnesota, I had a nonprofit leadership class that was taught by Michael Worth Davis, who was the longtime CEO of it.
00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:24.480
I don't know, I don't know still.
00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:29.119
I shouldn't even be talking about this for not having my updates, but my goodness, that man left an impression.
00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:36.480
He was such a good heart, brilliant guy, totally capable, running a huge organization.
00:34:36.559 --> 00:34:46.159
And when people would say, Oh, well, the CEO makes so much money, I'm like, I want someone who knows what they're doing to be running a huge social impact organization.
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:58.320
Because if you put someone who doesn't know what they're doing, and it's like, why are we not incentivizing people who can run social impact organizations and scale them?
00:34:58.480 --> 00:35:06.000
I want the same level of quality that the the people who can go to corporate, I want that in my social sector.
00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:06.239
Yeah.
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:13.199
But we've just got this backwards way of like, probably because the word's nonprofit, we think it should be not profitable.
00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:13.599
Right.
00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:26.719
And it's just like we gotta, we gotta the nonprofit sector, and this is true not just of the re-roost world, but the nonprofit sector generally is, I think, put to that center the idea of that we can't spend any money on overhead.
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.159
It's like, but overhead are our people, people are our programs.
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:33.679
And so I think that that is a disservice we do within the nonprofit sector.
00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:35.440
I could we could have a whole other podcast about that.
00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:35.920
Yeah.
00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:42.800
But yes, I think I think there is most reuse businesses bring some value to the table in different ways.
00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:44.800
And so there's valid critiques of different things.
00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:53.360
I do sometimes part of the challenge, and I did a presentation, as I mentioned to you recently, to the professional organizers group.
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:56.639
And one of the challenges is helping with the incoming stream.
00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:58.000
So helping the public understand.
00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:09.840
So that's one thing with reuse Minnesota I love too is that people can call us or email us or look at our directory, and we're happy to say, you know, actually that thing you have, that actually just should go to recycling or wherever.
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:15.360
Or here are we have some creative reuse organizations too that will maybe take those oddball things.
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.400
They usually need them in smaller volumes or by appointment.
00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:20.079
But there are outlets for that stuff.
00:36:20.159 --> 00:36:31.440
But I think one of the challenges with a lot of thrift stores and why stuff maybe doesn't always make on the shelf is because people understand that like when you get that free water bottle at an event that you got for free, nobody wants to pay for that, right?
00:36:31.679 --> 00:36:33.360
Like they're not gonna put that on the shelf.
00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:51.599
Well, also, I'm in the middle of 15 loads of laundry from my client this week that is uh potentially resellable, donate, you know, rewearable, but not in the state that it left the house because it had been not, you know, touched for many years, a cat involved, uh, so there's a lot of hair.
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:53.119
I've never seen, I don't have a cat.
00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:56.239
I've never seen my dryer get so full so quick.
00:36:56.320 --> 00:37:01.039
I'm like, whoa, yeah, two loads, and that I need to be unloading this every load.
00:37:01.119 --> 00:37:02.960
I have a non-shedding dog.
00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:03.519
Yeah.
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:06.719
So um, but I will do that, you know.
00:37:06.880 --> 00:37:16.719
I have I have visions of having a huge redistribution warehouse that takes, you know, and launders everything, yeah, but so many things that get donated pre-laundering.
00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:22.320
I'm not gonna go and buy something with a stain on it, but putting it through the wash can take that out.
00:37:22.480 --> 00:37:22.559
Right.
00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:23.920
And now I might buy it.
00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:28.079
So it's like really being considerate about what you're getting rid of.
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:35.519
I want to just, real quick before we kind of close this out, the better futures, big appliances, building materials.
00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:36.800
Can you speak to that?
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:47.840
Yeah, so a lot of times, you know, building materials get forgotten in the reuse world because most people don't interact with them on on a day-to-day basis, like we would do with clothing or you know, your kitchenware.
00:37:48.000 --> 00:37:52.159
And but there's a lot of so the industry will say embodied carbon, right?
00:37:52.239 --> 00:38:08.000
So like environmental benefit of reusing building materials is that trees that you know, the lumber coming in our from our houses right now was maybe cut down a hundred years ago, 75 years ago, and the carbon stored in that, so when you look at like climate reports, reusing lumber has a huge environmental benefit.
00:38:08.159 --> 00:38:18.559
So if you're doing a major remodel and you have the opportunity to have, they do have requirements on like how long the boards need to be, but you can donate used lumber, and especially for some of our older houses like in Minneapolis and St.
00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:25.760
Paul, if you're redoing a space or if you're tearing down a space, actually salvaging all of that lumber can be a huge environmental benefit.
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:31.360
And there are rules about how it can be reused, but many people will take it to build sheds or cabinetry or all sorts of different things.
00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:41.440
I did a new deck and I now have five a five-link fence between my neighbor and my yard, and it's not a full fence, but it's my old deck planks.
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:41.920
Yes.
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:42.719
Exactly.
00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:46.800
There were so many delays in my deck uh with some permit stuff that happened.
00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:56.960
By the time the guys came back to start building my deck, I already had a new fence with the old one, and I was like, you gotta get on this for me because we're, you know, we are a fast moving spot around here.
00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:58.880
And and I, that's my fence.
00:38:59.039 --> 00:38:59.519
That's my deck.
00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:01.760
That's what you you left, and now it's underground.
00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:02.079
Yeah.
00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:02.719
Okay.
00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:14.719
Um But better futures, and there's even like a grant or you know, there's a demo situation you can get where if you have them come and demo, you can get a subject.
00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:30.000
So yeah, so there's several of the counties offer funding, grant funding for residents who want to either take things for donating to reuse or have a company do the deconstruction, or who incorporate reuse things into a new project.
00:39:30.159 --> 00:39:33.199
And so there are several counties in the metro that offer that now.
00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:37.519
Several of our members do, and we're happy to provide direction based on where people live.
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:39.440
That is very much tied to location.
00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:47.039
But a lot of the counties have done a really great job of taking, saying, like for the last 40 years, we spent a lot of time focused on recycling.
00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:48.000
That's fantastic.
00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:59.840
But we've kind of not done enough on reuse, and so they have really helped in the last five to ten years recreate programs that will support reuse, especially when it comes to building materials, which is really awesome.
00:40:00.079 --> 00:40:16.719
So to close that one out, Better Futures, when you go through the tour, there's a shop and you can go in and buy all sorts of cool things that have been removed from people's homes, whether it be an appliance or maybe they had an overstock of purchases or something got delivered and there's a little ding.
00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:20.719
And so the manufacturer is giving it, you know, or giving a second.
00:40:20.800 --> 00:40:24.000
And so it's like there's a lot of different things out there.
00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:33.119
And I think reuse Minnesota is like if you're somebody who is listening and you're like, I want to know more about these different places, I mean, we scratched the surface.
00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:44.880
And you and I have plans to, you know, from the decluttering perspective, to amplify some of our membership and and really kind of celebrate some of the great work more.
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:45.280
Yeah.
00:40:45.440 --> 00:41:01.599
And so we're gonna be putting together presentations, putting together, you know, some things to to highlight them more because there's so much, but just jump on the Reuse Minnesota website just to see some of these and start to explore and also reach out to you and Carolyn.
00:41:01.679 --> 00:41:04.239
You guys are two of the fastest responders.
00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:07.760
I'm always like, whoa, you know, Carolyn, I owe her an email right now.
00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:09.519
Um, shout out to Carolyn.
00:41:09.599 --> 00:41:09.920
Yes.
00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:13.360
Um, huge, uh, who's a new listener, she let me know.
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:13.760
Yes.
00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:22.239
Um, but you know, just ask, say, hey, you know, I I'm gonna I'd love a new uh kitchen cabinet for a project I'm doing.
00:41:22.400 --> 00:41:23.440
Where do I go for that?
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:26.320
You guys can just direct people, you know, and and celebrate them.
00:41:26.480 --> 00:41:26.719
Okay.
00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:28.639
When we directory is a great resource.
00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:36.559
We're gonna talk about how to be involved a little bit more, what you might attend, and and then we'll have to close out for the day.
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:48.159
All right, Colleen Watterston, Emily Barker, Sorting Through Life, Space by Space Organizing, Reuse Minnesota, AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota, and we'll be right back.
00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:10.639
All right, welcome back to Sorting Through Life with Colleen Watterson here on AM950, the Progressive Voice of Minnesota, and I am with the very progressive and lovely Emily Barker of Reuse Minnesota.
00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:16.159
And if people are interested in everything that we've been talking about, it's reusemn.org.
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:17.119
Yeah.
00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:17.599
Okay.
00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:26.639
And if you're interested in being a member, so you can be an individual member, you can be a nonprofit member, you can be a business small and big.
00:42:26.800 --> 00:42:28.239
I am a small business member.
00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:28.639
Yep.
00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:37.519
I have been for a few years, and I I wear that proudly on my website, space by spaceorganizing.com.
00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:47.360
And the membership comes with the benefit of being able to put it on your website proudly, as well as many times to interact with people in person.
00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:56.559
So we started this by talking about how much we love each other and the people who show up around us when we do these cool events.
00:42:57.039 --> 00:43:05.599
And so there's the annual conference once a year in the fall, and that has packed full of really good information.
00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:10.000
You've brought in some really interesting keynote people from out of state.
00:43:10.159 --> 00:43:18.800
Um some people drive from out of state to be part of it because it's packed with such great information, but really good lineup.
00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:23.519
But the the complaint I would have is wanting to go to multiple sessions.
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:24.880
We get that every year.
00:43:25.119 --> 00:43:27.039
There's too much too many choices each time.
00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:30.400
And I'm I tell myself, okay, that's I don't feel bad about that.
00:43:30.719 --> 00:43:31.440
It's a good problem.
00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:33.360
It is, but it is a problem for me.
00:43:33.840 --> 00:43:43.119
And then I do exhibit often because I enjoy having a table, having some exposure, and then I have to decide am I at a session, am I at my table?
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:46.639
And it's just very stressful in a great way.
00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:52.559
But um, so the annual conference, but then there's there's the annual member meeting, there's quarterly.
00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:54.559
So we have quarterly member meetings, yep.
00:43:54.800 --> 00:43:59.760
And one thing I will mention is for anyone listening outside of Minnesota, you may or may not know that our weather kind of stings.
00:44:00.239 --> 00:44:09.840
In February, sometimes so uh that that uh meeting is always virtual, so we welcome people to join us as part of that, and then we have three in-person ones in May.
00:44:09.920 --> 00:44:16.400
We travel, so we go somewhere outside of the Twin Cities, and then August and and uh the annual meeting.
00:44:16.480 --> 00:44:20.719
We are always in the metro, so we try to have a balance and incorporate those tours.
00:44:21.119 --> 00:44:26.239
You've made a robust effort to incorporate more greater Minnesota people, yeah, which is awesome.
00:44:26.639 --> 00:44:33.119
Okay, we have so the member meetings they always have like the last member meeting was at that really fancy recycling center, so much fun.
00:44:33.199 --> 00:44:36.559
And then I went to lunch with a group of people in between.
00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:38.719
It also included some tours.
00:44:39.119 --> 00:44:46.559
So, you know, it's not just oh, a meeting for an hour, like these are social events around reuse with the coolest people in Minnesota.
00:44:46.960 --> 00:44:49.199
And then you have the social events.
00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:53.440
So if that's not social enough, you have no trash talk.
00:44:53.599 --> 00:44:53.920
Yep.
00:44:54.159 --> 00:45:00.400
And we started those because we heard from our members that while they like getting together, like the conference, it is a lot of programming.
00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:05.760
So to your point, you have to pick and you go and you listen, and there isn't necessarily just that time to connect and chat.
00:45:05.920 --> 00:45:17.199
So we started a purely social thing and we partner with our friends in the recycling and composting world, and we call it no trash talk because the idea is that it's for people who want to keep stuff out of the garbage.
00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:23.360
So we are very clever and punny here, but that is a quarterly thing that we started, and we've had a ton of fun with it.
00:45:23.599 --> 00:45:38.159
We usually have 20 to 40 people that will come together, and it's a really great way, regardless of where you are, or even if you're an individual citizen interested in saying, hey, I I want to be part of this for my community, for my neighborhood group, we we welcome anybody.
00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:40.480
I love the individual members.
00:45:40.639 --> 00:45:40.960
Yeah.
00:45:41.280 --> 00:45:49.119
People that don't have their own entity, you know, or maybe work for one and aren't the person who comes on behalf of that, you know.
00:45:49.199 --> 00:45:50.159
I mean, it's it's just great.
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:56.159
It's great to have individuals, and I think it feels very grassroots up to the grass top.
00:45:56.239 --> 00:45:59.920
You know, it feels like this is a very connected network.
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:05.679
And because we're all members and we all the the next thing we do virtual networking too, speaking.
00:46:05.920 --> 00:46:09.760
And you get kind of put in and it's it's always too short.
00:46:10.239 --> 00:46:14.880
Everything's too short, and you just want to meet more people, so that's a really good organization.
00:46:15.039 --> 00:46:20.559
And then last but not least is fix it clinics, mendic clinics, swaps.
00:46:20.639 --> 00:46:23.360
We should collaborate on some of the swaps a little bit more too.
00:46:23.679 --> 00:46:34.239
But my niece and I went to a it wasn't a fix it, but there were all these sewing machines, and it was using scrap material to make a new wallet.
00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:43.119
And so she was 11 at the time, and we went to a co-op in Minneapolis, and Carolyn patiently taught all of us.
00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:44.639
There were like 10 of us there.
00:46:44.800 --> 00:46:50.639
I did not know what to do with that sewing machine, and she so patiently walked around, and my niece had so much fun.
00:46:50.800 --> 00:47:02.079
We both left with uh, you know, I put my business cards in it now, and it was just this really fun way of taking the reuse mindset and turning it into an event.
00:47:02.320 --> 00:47:03.360
Yeah, fun social event.
00:47:03.519 --> 00:47:04.239
Fun social event.
00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:04.800
That's it.
00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:07.119
Always, I'm always looking for the fun angle.
00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:09.039
So like this.
00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:14.880
And somehow we're at a minute left every time, but I think this one flew.
00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:16.320
Watch for me and Emily.
00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:17.280
We're gonna be doing more.
00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:22.639
Go to reusemn.org to and especially our events page if you want to find those activities.
00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:24.800
And I think you can come without being a member.
00:47:25.119 --> 00:47:25.920
For most of them, yeah.
00:47:26.000 --> 00:47:28.880
Sometimes we have a little charge for non-members, but yes, definitely.
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:32.719
Look things up, get involved, sign up, be on the email list.
00:47:32.800 --> 00:47:34.000
They don't spam you.
00:47:34.079 --> 00:47:36.639
You just get to come and be part of cool things.
00:47:36.800 --> 00:47:52.239
And then for myself, space by spaceorganizing.com, we also have a brand new website for this uh show, sortingthroughlife.com, to go and watch all of our episodes and listen to all the things that um we've been up to.
00:47:52.400 --> 00:48:01.440
But home organizing, decluttering, being mindful of where your stuff goes and the world that we want to live in together.
00:48:01.679 --> 00:48:05.679
So thank you for being here with me and for leading an excellent organization.
00:48:05.920 --> 00:48:08.000
And thank you all for listening.
00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:08.559
Thanks for watching.
00:48:08.800 --> 00:48:10.400
This is Sorting Through Life.
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:12.320
We'll see you next time.
