Nelson and Richmond streets will become a bargain-hunting ground next month with the launch of a free recycling scheme.
Second Hand Sunday will give Nelson, Stoke and Richmond residents the opportunity to make someone’s trash their treasure.
The initiative will be trialled by the Nelson city and Tasman district councils for the first time on June 15, from 9am to midday.
It has been adopted from Gisborne, which has run a similar swap scheme for 11 years in an effort to reduce non-organic waste.
Nelson city councillor Eric Davy said the event worked like a garage sale, except no money changed hands.
Gisborne District Council waste minimisation officer Anne Lister, who helps to organise Gisborne’s Second Hand Sundays, likened them to a giant treasure hunt.
She said they were an opportunity for people to get rid of things they could not sell.
Lister said she had removed old windows from her home, and after she was unable to sell them, someone took them at a Second Hand Sunday and used them to build a glasshouse in their garden.
A Nelson council spokeswoman said Second Hand Sunday was being trialled to see if it was a practical way for people to pass on items that would otherwise end up going to landfill.
Residents who want to be involved can register with their council, and will receive a poster to put on their letterbox. The councils will publish a list of addresses taking part.
On June 15, the goods they want to shift should be put in their driveways or front yards for bargain hunters to rummage through and take whatever they can reuse.
Residents have to remove or dispose of any items not taken.
source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/10093365/Big-swap-to-reduce-rubbish
