ThuRsday Recycle and Reuse: The Waste Not Center

Written by Martha on April 22nd, 2010

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ThuRs Recycle and Reuse

What do 14″ green, 10″ blue and 8″ orange plastic balls, bins of odd Styrofoam shapes and hundreds of black porcelain bowls have in common? These are just a few of the objects donated to and available at the Waste Not Center, on the west side of Columbus, OH.

This center is a wonderful opportunity for Franklin County residents to help teachers while keeping tons of materials from becoming solid waste. The program is a win-win-win for environmentally conscious residents, students/teachers/artists, and the Department of Sanitation.

The Waste Not Center (WNC) receives donations from individuals and businesses of supplies that would otherwise be discarded and makes them available to teachers, artists and non-profit organizations at no charge other than a small annual membership fee.

Students pay $35-45, the teachers/artists’ fee is $75, while entire schools can register for $295 for the year.

Some of the more common items that can be found at the center are paper products, art supplies, decorating samples, office supplies, silk flowers, fabric, carpet samples, and Styrofoam. Then there are the surprises like a 6′ tall faux orchid tree, dozens of safety vests, and a 40″ faux moss wreath. Photos of current inventory items can be viewed here.

The Waste Not Center is open:

Every Thursday, 2:00pm – 6:00pm.
2nd Saturday of each month, 9:00 am – 11:30am

It is located at 2830B Fisher Rd, Columbus OH 43204 (map).

To make donating easy and accessible to all, there are bins for Neighborhood Drop Offs at 10 locations around Columbus.

Now you can feel good about letting go of those craft supplies that you will never use, knowing that a teacher will be thrilled to have them. All donations are tax deductible.

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