More than 1,000 kg of waste diverted from landfill during Guelph Re: Purpose Fest

From crayons to corks, car seats, bicycles and batteries, the second semi-annual Re: Purpose Fest took place in Guelph Saturday afternoon.

The purpose of the festival is to have the public drop-off and donate items that would otherwise be destined for landfills.

Hosted by the Guelph Tool Library at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Dawson Road, the goal is to encourage the public to take a deeper look at how materials are used and re-used.

“We challenged ourselves, how many things can we find a new home for that would end up in landfill,” John Dennis with the Guelph Tool Library told CTV News.

“Making people think about their consumerism and their spending, do you have to buy something? Is there a better way of doing something?"

All items donated Saturday will be either fixed, recycled, or re-purposed.

“We were aiming to collect about 1,000 kg, but halfway through the event today I think we've already reached that threshold so anything else that we get now is just a bonus,” Stephanie Clarke with the Guelph Tool Library said.

Clarke added that a lineup of cars were already present and ready to donate even before the festival officially began Saturday morning.

“We figure we'll have about 75 car seats today and we will make sure that they are all recycled and don't just end up in the landfill,” Dennis said.

Items being dropped off varied from large to small. Buckets labelled ‘Crayons,’ and ‘Used toys’ were packed with items. Full bicycles were also being donated, some will be re-furbished, others will be used for parts.

More than 20 organizations partnered to accept donations including the City of Guelph, Wands for Wildlife and the BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library.

“We are collecting donations for our lending library which is aimed at getting more racialized folks, Black, Indigenous, people of colour, out in nature doing recreation like camping, hiking, cross country skiing,“ BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library founder Dionna Daley said.

Even the free meal for attendees kept on theme, thanks to Community FEWD.

“We are a food security initiative, we take beautiful surplus foods that are destined for landfill and we upcycle them into gourmet meals and we offer them to the community,” Community FEWD chef, Yasi Zorlutuna explained as she worked the barbeque for guests.

The Guelph Tool Library’s next scheduled event is a Seeding Sale and Fundraiser on Sunday June 5th.