ReStore in Kent, a resale outlet store for Habitat for Humanity of Portage County, is preserving as much reusable and recyclable appliances and furniture as possible from buildings in Allerton Apartments of ɫҹ University.
Allerton Apartments, which are reaching the end of their life cycle and are cost-prohibitive to maintain, will be demolished as part of the university’s phase-out of those buildings.
On Sept. 28, ReStore workers sifted through Buildings L and M to reclaim usable and recyclable items and materials.
“We salvage fixable or working appliances and furniture, test them, clean them and sell them,” says Jan Bennett, manager, Kent ReStore. “Anything not usable goes to a scrapyard for recycling and helps put money back into the building program.”
According to Bennett, ReStore workers have been salvaging items from other Allerton Apartment buildings over the past month. More than just furniture is fair game. Bennett’s team rescues lights, doors, screen doors, kitchen and medicine cabinets, as well as vanities that can be repaired, reused or recycled. Additionally, working parts from used appliances are used to fix others.
In 2011, the Kent ReStore saved more than 225 tons of waste from entering landfills, notes Brian Reitz, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Portage County.
“The biggest thing we want people to know is that all of this is not going to waste,” says Bennett. “We’re trying to salvage and recycle as much as we can.”
For more information, about ReStore, email volunteer@habitatofportage.org.