CARLETON PLACE – Want to get rid of some stuff without the hassle of holding a garage sale?
Now is your chance to do your bit for the environment, while freeing up some space at the back of your closet, with Carleton Place’s first-ever Free Cycle.
“People can put used but good items they no longer want and put it by the side of the road, and other people can drive around and pick up other’s treasures,” said Dena Comley of the Carleton Place environmental advisory committee.
“They have to be cleaned up by Sunday,” added Comley of materials left curbside on Saturday, June 25. Materials can be put out the evening of Friday, June 24.
“If Friday happens to be your garbage day, don’t put it (the items) close to your garbage,” said Comley, for fear that the garbageman might not be able to tell the difference. “We’re excited to see how the community responds to it.”
If they respond well, Comley noted that her committee may well turn it in to an annual event.
Comley has been the recipient of some very good finds acquired through free cycles in other communities.
“In Rockcliffe Park, they throw out some really good stuff,” she said. “We got a couch.”
“This is another event that the committee has put on that raises awareness,” added Carleton Place Coun. Louis Antonakos.
He added it’s important that residents place a sign on or very near the items being put out for the free cycle stating “Free,” so as they are not reported as dumped items.
The committee has been hard at work this past spring on a number of initiatives. More than 300 rain barrels were sold during an event on May 28 at the Carleton Place arena.
“We committed to 150, but the truck could hold up to 300 and the sale just kept on going,” said Comley.
She noted that the recent water bans in Barrhaven and other parts of southern Ottawa have helped the cause of rain barrels.
“It made a huge difference,” said Comley. “It not only brought some people in from west Ottawa (to buy barrels), but it also made people more aware here…it definitely helped us.”
She also pointed out that rain barrel water is actually better for your backyard garden than tap water, because it is not chlorinated.
On April 30, the committee held an event in the parking lot of the Rona store in Carleton Place for people to drop off old electronic gear for recycling, the second year it has conducted such a drive. Last year, it collected 7.3 tonnes of electronics, compared to 27 tonnes this year, the equivalent of seven fully-loaded trucks of freezers, fridges, dish washers and dryers.
“It was absolutely stupefying,” said Comley. “There were lineups all day.”
During the same event, people could also drop off used paint for recycling. About 157 pallets of paint were sent to Montreal for recycling.
“We were glad to participate with a local Canadian business,” said Antonakos.