A Mount Gambier recycling market has seen a leap in buyers as interest rates, food prices, rents, and utility bills continue to rise.
Key points:
- Rising costs have caused an increase in people using refurbished items
- Anglican Community Care uses the service to help people furnish homes
- The service refurbished a home for just $66
The Mount Gambier ReUse Market removes items destined for landfill by reusing, repairing, and upcycling items, but coordinator Rebecca Mobbs is hoping her work will help people in financial need.
“Our primary mission is waste and landfill reduction,” she said.
“But part of what we do is getting recovered items to people that need them and engaging with community members to see how they reuse this material.”
And with cost-of-living pressures continuing to rise, so to have the number of people utilising the ReUse Market.
“I think there are people, with their struggles, out there that can refurbish a whole household for not a lot of money,” Ms Mobbs said.
“There are new Australians and refugees that do not have any bric-a-brac or crockery, or cutlery, and their home can be set up handsomely for not a lot of money.”
But it is not just people struggling financially.
Anglican Community Care (ac.care) assessment worker Kelly McGuinness said the Mount Gambier ReUse Market was a vital service within the region, allowing people to cheaply furnish transitional homes when moving on from being homeless.
“We’ve purchased everything from couches to dining tables, chairs, kitchen goods, coffee tables, and bedroom furniture from the ReUse Market to help people set up transitional accommodation,” Ms McGuinness said.
She said some people took the items with them once they moved on to longer-term housing while others left furniture behind to support the next tenants.
“The market has been really valuable for families, couples, and single people moving into transitional homes,” she said.
“With the rising cost of living, any savings can really help, and cheap items at the ReUse Market extend people’s budgets so they can afford essential items and become established in a home.”
Beyond helping those in need, the market has also caught on with locals wanting to be environmentally responsible while moving away from being a throwaway society.
“If you can take something and reuse it, refurbish it, or have a new home for it rather than buying something new, people are proud to do that.”