| Wrap Up 2019 Minimizing Your Footprint As the year (…decade – woah!) comes to a close, you may find yourself facing choices that have significant environmental impact. For many of us, this is a time involving more parties and events, gift-giving, and lots of eating. |
| There are fantastic blogs and resources encouraging strategies to reduce your waste; however, we want to encourage you to remember the full life cycle impacts of consumption. Our mission with reuse (along with rental and repair) is not only preventing the creation of more waste, but first and foremost, preventing the need for more material extraction and new product creation! When it comes to consumer products (all of our stuff!), these early stages of manufacturing are where the environmental impact is greatest. We challenge you to refrain from buying new for the remainder of the year – we love the increasing trend of giving experiences as gifts, but also know some great reuse options to consider:Instead of buying your partner jewelry from a department store, give a piece made by a local artist upcycling existing materials into jewelry…keep reading and you’ll learn about some artists we’ve partnered with recently!Instead of buying your parent a new sweater online, give them a visit to a local tailor to update three of their existing sweaters that don’t currently fit or are a little dated.Instead of buying your buddy new boots, give them a visit to a local shoe repair shop to fix the soles of their favorite existing pair.Instead of buying a stack of flimsy plates, plastic utensils, and paper napkins, ask your crew to BYOPUN (bring your own plate, utensils, napkin) for your New Year’s celebration. The opportunities to extend the life of things we already own is endless, and it’s a fun way to be more creative and often more thoughtful. A big thanks to all of you for your ongoing support, interest, and engagement. Stay warm and be safe – happy New Year and we look forward to seeing you in 2020! |
| Highlights |
| Bag Fees => Reusables Win! In November, Minneapolis and Duluth became the first Minnesota cities to pass single-use bag fees. Minneapolis instituted a fee for single-use bags (both paper and plastic) and Duluth took the first step by passing a fee for single-use plastic bags. Advocates in both cities say this initiative is key in shifting consumer behavior toward bringing reusable bags for shopping. ReUSE Minnesota sent a letter of support and member businesses and team members voiced their support at hearings and through local media. An exciting move for reuse! |
| Event Recap: ReUSE Minnesota at the Green Gifts Fair Our team had a great time partnering with Do It Green! Minnesota at Midtown Global Market on November 23, where we participated in their 14th annual Green Gifts Fair. In addition to meeting with other sustainable-minded businesses and organizations, we made gift tags and mini notebooks out of reused materials. |
| Let us know if events like this interest you, and we’ll keep you in the loop for future opportunities to feature your business! |
| Event Recap: ReUSE Minnesota at Policy on Tap ReUSE Minnesota, along with member organization Repair Lair, sponsored an exciting event this month. Citizens League’s final #PolicyOnTap for the year focused on the world of secondhand. |
| The event included a panel featuring Adam Minter, journalist and author of Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale, and Nick Adams, senior director of retail stores at Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota. Be sure to check out the MPR interview with Adam Minter too – he’s spot on with his statement, ‘the best thing you can do is not buy more stuff.’ |
| Event Recap: Annual Meeting Recap & ReUSE Minnesota Board Updates 2019 has been a year of developments for our organization – announcing Jen Newberg as the new executive director, hosting our first #ReUSEMN19 regional conference, and continuing to be active in reuse and sustainability initiatives across the state! We celebrated these accomplishments on December 10 at our annual meeting at La Doña Cervecería. This event also featured local artists who use repurposed or upcycled materials for their work. Thank you to Kate LaCroix Works, Emily Floyd Handcrafted Jewelry, Jabean Bags, and LB Originals! |
| At our annual meeting, ReUSE Minnesota Board President Jenny Kedward thanked two incredible, departing board members – Greg Rue and Allison Sawyer – who have been critical supports for this organization. A big thank you to Greg and Allison; you will be missed! |
| Jenny also welcomed Steve Jameson back as a returning board member and Annika Bergen as a new board member! We had an excellent turnout with many new and familiar faces in the mix. Stay tuned for our next ReUSE Minnesota meeting – likely in February, 2020. |
| Member Feature: Repair Lair “Spend less on gear (more on beer)!” We couldn’t agree more. Owned and operated by ReUSE Minnesota board member Nancy Ford, Repair Lair features two types of reuse: repair and consignment. |
| Repair Lair specializes in fixing outdoor clothing and camping equipment, and also sells secondhand options in the same types of clothing and gear. |
| “Years ago I started buying used clothing and household stuff out of economic necessity and continued out of habit. There’s always been an overabundance of used items waiting for new homes and I’m doing my part to provide consumers the best opportunity possible to buy used instead of new. |
| I worked in the outdoor industry for close to fifteen years selling gear and clothing to campers, skiers, and hikers. The outdoor industry perpetuates the myth that a person needs to spend a bunch of money to be able to fully enjoy the outdoors. My counterattack was to open Repair Lair five years ago. We specialize in repair and consignment of outdoor gear and clothing and have seen double-digit growth every year since we opened. My ultimate goal is to provide consumers the knowledge to make educated, thoughtful purchases of secondhand goods. Shopping secondhand and repairing what you have is good for the environment and good for your wallet.” – Nancy Ford, Repair Lair owner |
