The Mount Gambier ReUse Market was officially opened on Saturday 8 December 2018. The market provides a variety of second hand goods for sale at 3 Eucalypt Drive Mount Gambier and aims to reduce waste going to landfill by upcycling and reusing useful items.
City of Mount Gambier Deputy Mayor Sonya Mezinec spoke at the opening event and said the market concept is a demonstration of Council’s commitment to dealing with rubbish differently as part of Council’s reduce, reuse and recycle philosophy.
“We’ve got fast food, we’ve got fast fashion and now we’ve got fast furniture. We can buy household items very cheaply now which sends the message that when you get sick of it, you just throw it out and get something new,” Cr Mezinec said.
“We are hoping to change that attitude with the ReUse Market, so that all those items that are still useful can be reused by someone else.”
The $560,000 recovery facility was the brainchild of the former Council, formally endorsed in August 2017.
“It takes a lot of people, talent and commitment to make these ideas become reality. I acknowledge the work of Council’s former Environmental Sustainability Committee. As a group we advocated strongly for the market concept and for Council to allocate funds toward it.”
“I’d also like to thank Council staff who took the idea that we had and dealt with the logistics to make it happen. The staff are so passionate about giving recovered items another useful life and have been supported along the way with assistance from students from the Independent Learning Centre.”
Community support for the new initiative has been overwhelming with more than 500 people visiting the market and more than 250 transactions made during the open day held on Saturday.
I’d like to thank the community for embracing the idea of donating items for the market, there has been an enormous amount of interest and the three occasions it has been open it has been packed and people have really enjoyed their time browsing the market.- Deputy Mayor Sonya Mezinec
“The success of the market is only limited to the extent that the community support it and when you take a look you’ll see the magic that has been created by the ReUse Market team,” Cr Mezinec said.
Council encourages community members to drop off unwanted, good quality items for free at the Waste Transfer Station for resale at the ReUse Market.
“The community can help with this process by organising their trailer loads so that useful items can be easily removed by staff at the Waste Transfer Station, reducing waste to landfill and reducing the cost of your load."
The ReUse Market team continues to recover donations and items from the waste stream to prepare for the next opening.
"The team would like to thank the community and our customers for their support and encouragement so far," ReUse Market Coordinator Rebecca Mobbs said.
“You may plan on having a clean out at home over the holidays and if you find anything that you are not using in good condition please consider donating the items to us.”
The ReUse Market will be open again in January 2019.
ReUse Market 2019 Opening Dates
Media contact: Media and Communications Coordinator on (08) 8721 2401 or smclean@mountgambier.sa.gov.au
