A duo of Lawrence residents have started a business in hopes of keeping valuable items in circulation and out of landfills.
Sandra Issa and Ar Windibiziri have watched dumpsters fill to overflowing around the big move-in, move-out times in May and the end of July for years in this college town.
“Those dumpsters are filled with many useful, working items that could circulate in the economy for many more years,” they said in a news release.
Issa said she and Windibiziri launched the business, Green Abode, back in May. As leases end and begin through the end of this month and early August, they expect to be busy.
Green Abode accepts kitchen appliances, lamps, vacuum cleaners, bedding, plastic sets of drawers and more. They collect donations left in bins they place at apartment complexes, sororities and fraternities. Individuals can also make donations by filling out a form on the business’s website, greenabode.org, to schedule a free pickup.
The items are tested, repaired as needed, cleaned and sanitized. Some items get posted for sale on the website, and some are donated to local nonprofits.
The business only serves Lawrence, so all purchased items are delivered (for free), and “because packaging makes up 30% of the waste consumers send to the landfill, we do not offer shipping.”
Green Abode aims “to do our part to move Lawrence away from a linear economy and toward a circular economy,” they said in the release.
“The linear model of taking resources, making products, using products and disposing of them is not sustainable in the long-term. If we can keep items in the economy longer, fewer resources will be taken and less waste will be generated. In addition, these items can be re-sold at low cost to ease the financial burden on students and local residents.”
Find out more about Green Abode by visiting their website. You can also follow them on Instagram and Facebook. They will also join Ecumenical Campus Ministries on Instagram Live at 4 p.m. Friday, July 23 (today) to talk more about their goals.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
