When it comes to household furniture, donate don’t ditch!
Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore challenges Canadians to keep one billion pounds out of landfills by 2022.
Not surprisingly, Ontarians have long been motivated to do their part to help the environment and while they’re doing well when it comes to recycling smaller items, according to a new survey by Habitat for Humanity ReStore (Habitat ReStore), their habits do not translate to household items and building supplies. Ontarians are more than twice (83 percent) as likely to always recycle items such as cans, bottles, cardboard and paper than they are to recycle household furniture such as chairs, couches or lamps (37 percent).
Habitat for Humanity, also found that according to the survey, Canadians are more likely to put their home décor items, like a lamp or couch, directly into the trash than to donate it to a local charity such as the Habitat ReStore. This means that each year, millions of items end up directly in landfills.
Over the past 30 years, Habitat ReStores have diverted nearly half a million tonnes of waste from landfills, giving new life to gently used household items from kitchen appliances such as refrigerators, stoves and dishwashers to furniture and even smaller home décor items.
This year, Habitat for Humanity ReStore, the social enterprise that helps fund homes that Habitat builds, is celebrating its 30th anniversary and in honour of this milestone, the charity is calling on Canadians to help reach its goal of keeping one billion pounds out of the landfill by May 2022.
To find the ReStore location near you, Click here.
About this survey:
These are the findings of a survey conducted by Habitat for Humanity Canada from April 16 to April 19, 2021, with a representative sample of 1,506 online Canadian adults age 18+ who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French.
