Thursday 24th October 2024
Phoebe Schenker the Executive Director at Reuse Alliance, was one of the people that Timonie (via Neil Seldman, via Bethany at SVdP!) had put me in touch with. Their mission is to “prevent resources from becoming waste by advocating for, collaborating with, and supporting reuse enterprises that recirculate materials into our communities”
It was born in New York in 2001, and had ambitions of being an organisation with national coverage supporting the reuse sector.
“Throughout our 19 year history we have promoted reuse and its social, environmental, and economic benefits through advocacy, our biannual conference, State and regional summits and Reuse Roundtables, data collection projects, and community building services that strengthen the reuse community"
Now operating out of one chapter in California, they have a paid employee for the first time, and have published an exciting vision for the future to build back and develop a local chapter model.
Read about their 2024 reuse campaign and the reasons behind it here.
I had just visited Urban Ore when I spoke to Phoebe and I asked her what she thought the common themes were with the successful large scale reuse organisations -
1) Formidable people
2) Previously start up costs were lower (especially on property)
We talked about our joint vision and ambitions for reuse, and what the challenges might be in achieving it. Phoebe spoke of end markets (of unreusable or unsellable goods) being an issue for many materials. She also saw a growth in the repair markets and the need for local replication and the importance of the sector continuing to learn from each other.
On the issue of Community Wealth Building and measuring/talking about impacts, Phoebe directed me to an report by Americans for the Arts that showed that someone may buy a theatre ticket...but indirectly they may also be creating wealth elsewhere by going out to dinner, taking a taxi and renting a babysitter etc. So Interesting!
The website above has a lot of research on this topic and firmly believes in the extended reach of the arts - “We believe that creative and artistic solutions are central to building more equitable economies that provide opportunity for all people to reach their individual potential. Americans for the Arts seeks to help communities further appreciate and leverage the full scope of creative, cultural, and artistic-based economic activity to strengthen their communities”
I was left full of enthusiasm for building a visual picture of the impact of buying a second-hand sleepsuit from Merry-go-round.
Reuse alliance also has a list of research and reports on the positive impacts of reuse that I will be reading and digesting when I get back.
“Reuse Alliance is working to establish metrics, and collect and analyze data for reuse. Because the positive impacts of reuse are environmental, economic, and social, we need better data in all three areas. In the meantime, here are some resources with helpful existing data to build the case for growing the reuse economy”
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