September 30, 2018
Halton residents are making strides for environmental sustainability and helping neighbours in need through a recycling partnership between Halton Region and The Salvation Army Thrift Store.
In the last year, over 4 million pounds of gently used items have been diverted from the Halton Waste Management Site landfill through four Salvation Army Thrift Store locations in Halton and the Donor Welcome Centre (DWC) located at the Halton Waste Management Site Reuse Depot. According to Tonny Colyn, Salvation Army Thrift Store National Donations Manager, the 16 year partnership with Halton Region has been strides ahead when it comes to environmental sustainability.
“We have shown that recycling is more than the proper disposal of food, plastics and cans. There is a full life cycle for clothing, textiles, electronics and other household items which our Thrift Stores are playing a large part of,” says Colyn. In the last fiscal year The Salvation Army Thrift Store diverted close to 80 million pounds of used items nationally through 108 Thrift Stores.
“Partnerships, like ours with the Salvation Army, are important for sustaining the natural environment for generations to come and giving back to the community”, said Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr. “Halton Region continues to improve our waste management programs and services – like the Halton Waste Management Site and curbside collection programs – to make community waste reduction easy and part of every day life.”
Proceeds from donated items are given back into local communities through Salvation Army programs, services and emergency relief efforts. In Halton, the Salvation Army Thrift Store has four store locations in the cities of Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Georgetown. Through these locations over $85,000 was given to those in need to shop free of cost through a voucher program in 2017-2018. Almost $38,000 was also given to send children to summer camps, to assist children overseas and used in the fight against poverty.
“We want to increase items donated to us and raise more funds to provide even more assistance to those in need,” Colyn said. “Halton residents can help us make a difference by spreading the word to their neighbours, family and friends that it is easy to donate to us helping the environment and those in need.”
The Halton Waste Management Site’s Reuse Depot Thrift Store’s Donor Welcome Centre is located at 5400 Regional Road 25 in Milton and open Monday to Saturday 8:30 a.m – 4:30 p.m. A donation attendant is on site to accept reuse items. . “For each donation made you’ll receive our $10 OFF coupon to keep the cycle going and help our planet by going into our stores and shopping thrift,” Colyn added.
For information about the Halton Waste Management Site, visit halton.ca/waste.