For those who have items that they might not want but they don’t want to throw away in the landfill, the Swap Shop at the city dump is the place to leave it for someone else who can use it or needs it.
The Swap Shop opened two weekends ago and has been half emptied a couple of times and refilled, says Fern Beaudette, of Beaudette Contracting who, along with her husband Dennis, runs the city landfill and Thornhill landfill.
Beaudette Contracting and the city split the cost of the shed, and they hired a person to build it so items can be stored away from the weather year-round.
“We ask people to treat the initiative with respect: take what they need and leave what they don’t need,” said city planner Tara Irwin, who worked with the Beaudettes to get the shed up and running.
“It’s not set up to facilitate the resale of goods, it’s more about need than anything else.”
If people are in need of an item, they can come check out the shed and see if they can find what they need. If they have an item they don’t have a use for anymore, they can drop it off for someone else to take.
Or people can drop off what they don’t need and pick up what they do need.
The shed is bigger than others in the region: Smithers has a smaller one and Prince George had a swap shed but closed it down due to people fighting over items.
So it’s hoped that nothing like that happens here.
Businesses undergoing renovations and who have items that they plan on throwing out can bring those items by and donate them to the shed.
Some furniture from a local business undergoing renovations was put out at the shed when it first opened and it looked vintage and still had lots of wear left.
The Swap Shed is open during regular city landfill business hours: open Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Sept. 30 and then winter hours come into effect of noon to 5 p.m. from Oct. 1 until March 31. The city landfill is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays and on certain statutory holidays.