Lets help out: Recycle

I recently visited Totnes “ReFurnish”. This is an organisation that provides inexpensive secondhand furniture and white goods for those people who are looking to furnish on a tight budget. I am sure there will be something similar in everyone’s own area. They rely on donations from people who are disposing of old or unwanted goods which then enables them to provide affordable items to the buyers.

The staff are so lovely, and nothing is too much trouble… They are really making the best effort to offer a great service.

NOW… How can we help.  Whilst looking around I saw that there was a real lack of better quality items, and it was explained to me that the “good stuff” flies out the door as soon as it comes in. I know that on many occasions when embarking on a refurbishment project, perfectly good, serviceable, and often attractive pieces of furniture, sanitary ware and other goods are simply disposed of (usually in a skip) because it is simply cheaper to do that.

I think, as designers we should take action! ReFurnish (or whichever organisation is local to you) will collect good items free of charge. We would help them, and at the same time, luckily,  this helps the project too. It involves little effort for us, and offers a lot of help to others who would benefit from the donations. This is so important, so please help out where you can, and let the organisations know that there is a wealth of items that may really be of help to them.