Longtime Squamish resident John French wants your tattered towels, your stained sheets and worn out blankets.
Actually, he doesn’t want them, yet.
First he wants a place to store tonnes of these humble textiles. He will start actually collecting the items from Squamish residents in the spring.
No, French isn’t an honest hoarder. He is launching an initiative, Textile Turnover.
“I have always thought that landfills are the stupidest things that human beings ever created,” French told the Chief. “We really should do everything we possibly can to divert stuff out of the landfill that can be given a higher and better use than getting buried.”
According to the waste audit conducted for the District of Squamish in May 2016,
textiles waste represented eight per cent of single-family residential garbage.
It made up seven per cent of apartment, townhouse and condo building waste.
It was four per cent of industrial, commercial and institutional waste.
We can do better than that, French asserts.
French will sell the items to one of a few recycling companies in the city who buy textiles. The funds he earns will then go to charity.
“Whatever groups opt in to be involved, we will spread the money out,” French said, adding he has set a goal of raising $2,000.
But French stressed the exercise isn’t really about raising the money, though that is a nice offshoot of the plan.
“There’s not very much monetary value in the types of materials that we are looking to collect,” he said. The initiative is about keeping more trash from entering our increasingly full landfill.
French said he isn’t as interested in collecting clothing because Squamish has plenty of places and organizations that collect clothing including Pearl’s Value & Vintage downtown.
There are also clothing donation bins at the landfill, recycling depot and other locations for public drop off. (Go to www.develop.bc.ca/find-a-clothing-bin/ for more information).
At this point, he is hoping people will step forward who can help with the logistics of the plan.
In particular, he is looking for a place to store the items until about mid-March.
“I have this thought that through the early part of March will be the focus of the collection drive, with one day mid-March that will be the big collection day, the final push,” he said. After that day, the company he partners with will come and collect all the materials, he added.
To get involved, call French at 604-815-7318.
