Free Swap at Farmers Markets
Sponsored Content: City of Vancouver’s Solid Waste Programs is a VFM Sponsor
Canada is one of the top five waste producing countries in the world, but Vancouver is working to divert more, and waste less, in its move towards zero waste. While recycling is an important early part of that move, it is just a stepping stone to give us time to adopt more sustainable practices. The Waste Hierarchy seen below is a great way to illustrate Vancouver’s approach to zero waste, which highlights the importance of early actions we can take to reduce waste. Actions at the top of the hierarchy such as avoiding waste, reducing, and reusing are preferred to those lower down.
Reuse is where initiatives such as repair cafes and free swaps come in! Instead of sending products to the landfill or recycling them, many items can be repaired or shared with others. So what is a free swap? They are events where people come together to give up items in good condition that they no longer need, and hopefully find products donated by others that they do need. The City of Vancouver’s Solid Waste Programs Branch is running two free swap pilots at Vancouver Farmers Markets in the coming months:
There are three ways to participate in the free swap:
- Swap it. Drop off items for others to choose from and then pick out new-to-you items dropped off by others.
- Donate it. Feel free to donate items without taking home anything new.
- Take it. Nothing to donate? No problem! Everyone is welcome to take items home – there are plenty of great finds to go around.
Check out all the free swap guidelines in the image below and come ‘shop the swap’ on August 19 at Trout Lake, or September 9 at West End.
