Zero Waste Day

If copying is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then the Andover Recycling Committee is certainly blushing. Their idea to bring charities into the community for a day of Drive Thru Donating was nothing short of genius. They found that folks were happy to donate their gently used items, but they were not willing to leave town to do so. And thus was born the concept of inviting local non-profits, collecting a variety of items, to a centrally located parking lot where they could fill their trucks (even an 18 wheeler!) in 4 hours time with treasures for their clients.

Did we mention the "win" for donors? Rather than bringing clothing to one non-profit and household goods to another and books to yet a third, donors could load up their cars with just about anything and donate it as quickly as picking up a hamburger and fries... tax deductible receipt included. And let's just say that Recycling Committees are happy too, because thousands of pounds of usable items are kept out of the waste stream, thereby reducing waste management costs and saving our taxpayer dollars.

TCC's first two ZWDs (May 2009 and September 2010) were very successful with both attracting more than 400 cars offering gently used items to nearly a dozen non-profit organizations. Our third annual event is scheduled for Saturday, September 24th, from 9am to 1pm at the Wynn Middle School and we anticipate a similar, generous response. We feel blessed to coordinate a feel good event that serves both our community and our neighbors in need.

For more information on this event, please visit our Zero Waste Day website

If you would like to bring Zero Waste Day to your community, check out our Plan Your Own ZWD guide.

Facebook friends are welcome to join our Supporters of Zero Waste Day, Tewksbury group.