One person’s trash may be another’s treasure at the sixth annual Grand Rapids Choose to ReUse event.

All area residents are invited to bring items they want to discard but someone else can use including small appliances, lawn care items, household goods, bicycles, seasonal decorations, knick-knacks, office equipment, books, media and clothes. Items need not be in working order. Anyone can take away items and do not need to drop anything off beforehand. Discarded items can be dropped off or picked up between 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM on September 19 at the Grand Rapids Town Garage.

“If an item is broken, somebody may use it for parts. If they don’t, we recycle it at the end of the day,” said Grand Rapids Town Supervisor Bill Clendenning who chairs the Choose to ReUse event committee.

Clendenning said that household fixtures are donated to Habitat for Humanity and many of the leftover items will be donated to the Hope Store and Goodwill as well. The remaining items will be properly stripped of parts, recycled and salvaged. Any item that isn’t worth keeping will be sent back with whomever brought it to dispose of properly.

“Keep it out of our ditches. That’s the main thing,” said Clendenning. “And we want people to recycle. We wanted stuff out of the landfill. There’s a lot of things people can use.”

Items for pick up are first-come first-serve.

Volunteers are still needed to help unload and sort the dropped off items. Clendenning said up to 70 cars at a time may show up at the Town Garage and event staff have to help all of them.

“We don’t allow any unloading until we unload it and put on the tables to take,” he said.

Some items may be charged a fee to discard. They include:

• Tires – 15 inches and below are $3.00, 16 to 19 inches are $4.00, 20 inches to 24 inches are $8.00 and larger size fees are negotiable.
• TVs and monitors – 25 inches and smaller are $10.00, 27 to 49 inches are $25.00.
• Wood Consoles TVs and Projection TVs (Floor Standing) & TVs over 49 inches are $40.

The TVs and money received for them are donated to the Opportunity Development Center. The ODC recycles electronic equipment throughout the year.

Do not bring paint and chemicals. Those items can be disposed of on October 3 during the Clean Sweep at the Saratoga Town Hall.

The Grand Rapids Town Garage is located at 2811 Two Mile Ave. in Wisconsin Rapids.