Swap shop makes weighty difference

BUCKFIELD — The swap shop at the Buckfield-Sumner Transfer Station, on Route 140, has been a great success in its first full year of operation.

Created in August, 2007, with the placement of a cargo container to hold donated goods, the site has since grown to two containers and a shed, used to house material dropped off after hours. 

Led by Mary Alice Standard, of Sumner, about 20 regular volunteers weigh every item donated, to measure the amount of material the shop helps to keep out of the waste stream.  In the shop’s first month of operation, in September, 2007, 2,347 pounds of clothes, books, housewares, toys, old tools and other others that might have been thrown away were instead taken in by local residents for re-use.

One year later, in September 2008, the weight of goods passing though the swap shop has grown to 5,771 pounds. 

According to Standard, the swap shop diverts about 5,000 pounds of material per month from the waste stream.  The total through November stood at 37,234 pounds.  When the December numbers are tallied, the total for 2008 should eclipse 42,000 pounds.

According to Buckfield Town Manager Glen Holmes, the swap shop is saving taxpayers about $200 per month on tipping fees, the price paid to haulers to cart away local garbage to the MMWAC (Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp.) incineration, in Auburn.

“It’s been a really great investment that we made with Sumner,” said Holmes.  “Impressive is just way too small a word.  It’s just amazing, what these volunteers have done.”

Standard says the two Nezinscot Valley communities have opened their arms wide to the swap shop concept.  In addition to the two dozen volunteers who put in a few hours per week each, and the three who work regular hours, many folks have simply stopped by from time to time to help, offering whatever has been requested.  Fred Horsefall, Standard notes, built the shelves in the two cargo holds, using wood donated by Lowell Lumber.

“I think an even a bigger benefit than the $2,500 saved per year, is the tremendous use people are getting out of this stuff,” said Holmes.

As an example, Standard points out that, just before the holidays, a local grandfather of 14 stopped by the swap shop and walked away with 80 pounds of child’s clothing, including coats, and 40 pounds of toys.

Clearly, she said, donated items are finding homes where they are needed.

The swap shop is open from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays and from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

And it’s always busy.  

“I went in two or three weeks ago,” said Buckfield selectboard Chairman Chris Hayward.  “You couldn’t even get near the place.”