Back in 2017 I got advice from a career coach that it was time to change careers. But who wants such a change after 15 years of working in college administration. Soon I found out our small college was merging with a larger college and my position was redundant. This seemed like the shove I needed. After a summer of exploring options in the environmental realm, including prairie restoration and large scale composting with worms (it is very fascinating), one idea took hold after visiting SCARCE (located in Addison, IL). My mom, Beth, and I went for an open house tour of this nearly 30-year old eco nonprofit. It had so many great elements that spoke to both of us: a focus on reducing waste, extending the life of items, supporting education and serving the community. This led us into finding out about creative reuse centers and then we knew the direction to go. Being a couple of tree hugger ladies, we decided to work on this together.
Our first real effort for Greener Good was in fall 2019 working with Palatine District 15 schools to go through almost 1,000 boxes of materials saved up over the years plus a curriculum change. The warehouse wanted to clear out space and the schools wanted to clear out some closets. It was our kind of fun going through boxes to find materials that could still be used and getting recyclable items to the right places. There were 25,000 pounds of hardcover books that we rented a truck twice to get to Gilberts, IL because hardcover books can't go in the usual recycling. It felt amazing just accomplishing this. Then we saved about 20,000 lbs of textbooks and curriculum materials which we sold online. This got the materials to teachers around the country at much lower prices and raised funds for Greener Good.
Shortly after, the COVID pandemic hit which put a halt to things. My focus switched to my elementary-aged kids and Beth moved from Arlington Heights back home to Rockford. Some activities were happening but a lot was uncertain about how people's shopping habits would change and how the learning environment would change. It would be two years before we felt we had the right plan on how to move forward.
In September 2022, we opened in a small 440 square foot space in Palatine in the area between Spunky Dunkers and JJ Twigs. This was a great way to introduce this type of organization to the community so people could come in and see what a creative reuse organization looks like. My mom and grandma have come in from Rockford every week for a few days since the beginning. For the first year, usually a few people a day came to shop and granny could even sit down to take time and crochet.
We went out into the community for various events to have creative fun and there were many great folks helping spread the word. Our first spring (2023) at this shop we could not have realized how much great teacher materials we were going to get and just how little room we had to distribute it. Having very few expenses we decided giving away materials to teachers would be amazing! We setout to have an off-site event with less than two months to make it happen. St Thomas of Villanova Church graciously gave us use of their whole gym for a week. It took a week of setup for a one-day giveaway event which was madness! It was so amazing to hear the feedback and reactions from the nearly 70 teachers who came to get about $7,000 worth of materials. It was worth all the effort for our first Tools for Schools event.
In early 2024, discussions of looking for other spaces began with Greener Good's board of directors as we started thinking of what Tools for Schools 2024 would look like. Ideally, we needed a good location for a retail space with a nonprofit bank account in mind. As we casually searched, we were asked about being on the WGN segment 'Around Town' with Ana Belaval thanks to a shop visit a WGN employee made. We knew teacher appreciation week would be a great opportunity and with that date set with them we decided we needed to take a leap of faith to move sooner than later.
Volunteers: Sanika, Amanda, Beth, Jill, Dawn, Sharon, Evelyn
The old Radio Shack spot at Wilke Rd and NW Highway in Arlington Heights has been a spot I've pined over for years. The stars aligned and that is the location we were able to get for a six-month lease. We moved quickly thanks to volunteers and supporters we have gained along the way. The secondhand fixtures and furniture we needed came from supporters and a last minute find and deal from the Sam Ash music store closing. The visit from WGN was amazing and we still have people who come in and say they heard about us from Ana! Many of our further away material donations come because of that visit and people making the trip because they believe in our mission. Before we were processing about 600 lbs of materials per month from donations and now we average 3,000 lbs. Last August we had 59 sales and this August we had 280!!
Feedback from visitors about their appreciation for this concept and for our efforts means so much. We want to do this work for decades and grow as so many creative reuse centers have done so around the country. As with most nonprofits it takes many different skills and tasks to keep things running. Our all-volunteer team has a great time digging through materials and get excited seeing items find new homes. Connecting with new and regular customers is rewarding and we are working to grow the number of folks coming to visit each day. Plus, we are building our creative community to offer and take classes, workshops and programs. There are many aspects to a creative reuse organization, that also supports teachers, and we appreciate everyone who supports our mission, our efforts, the teachers and the environment.
Creative Reuse Centers
Check out this Instagram post series Austin Creative Reuse is doing to show the creative reuse centers around the country. Most states have one or two centers but Illinois has four. The Chicago-metro region has a large population and we are lucky to also have The Wasteshed in Chicago and Evanston and Chicago Creative Reuse Exchange (CCRX) on the southside of Chicago. These are great nonprofits with the our same main focus being about reducing waste through giving creative items another life. Communities often have multiple thrift shops, think Arlington Heights "thrift shop row" on Rand Rd. Creative Reuse Centers are an alternative thrift shop-type and you can read more about them on Earth 911's site.
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