Snappy Answers: New, Used, and Cheep Cheep Cheep

By Sarah Nicole Prickett

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to [email protected].

Hey Snappy,
My partner and I are about to begin renovation on a house we just bought. We are going to get new floors, a new kitchen, a new bathroom, and new appliances. Although “new” in this situation is good, it means, by definition, that there is old. And a lot of it.
We want as little of the old stuff as possible to go to a landfill. I had thought about posting on Craigslist something that says “Come pick through our bin” but decided against it as we won’t be at the new place all the time to watch the goings-on.
What can we do to see that this old material (flooring, appliances, bathroom fixtures, etc.) is put to use rather than put to landfill?
Thanks,
Mark

Mark,
Congratulations on the new digs (hope they don’t put you in too deep a hole) and the new consumerism: the kind with a conscience.
The best place for your old-but-good building materials, fixtures, and appliances is the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (1120 Caledonia Road, and other locations), the only resale outlet of its kind that gives 100% of the proceeds to their cause (even the store overhead is covered by the organization). We called the Toronto West ReStore and talked to an employee who said that not only will they take everything you mentioned (with the possible exception of floor tiles, unless they’re in super-shiny condition), but they’ll also pick it up from your place. For more information, check your email: we sent you the coordinates of their salvage coordinator.
Good luck on the reno and recycle!
Sincerely,
Snappy Answers
P.S. If, like Mark, you give a damn about the planet, don’t forget to turn off the lights at 8 p.m. today. After sixty minutes of sitting smugly by candlelight, you can then return to your regularly scheduled 525 948.766 minutes of guilt-free overconsumption. Happy Earth Hour.