It’s still cold here, and the temperature continues to drop. I’m not riding the horses because my cutoff point is 0 F. It is now -9˚F. Instead, I’ve been doing indoor things. One of these things was to write a letter to the Recycling Center Reuse Committee. My thinking is still that the book project is a good model for future reuse endeavors. This letter is as follows.

Dear Reuse Committee Members:

My thoughts, in general, about reuse are based upon my experiences as the self-appointed Outreach Coordinator of the Bright Lights Book Project, an endeavor that I began two years ago to the day.

From the onset I saw the task of salvaging, sorting, categorizing, cleaning, and distributing books that were slated to be shredded as a means of both promoting VCRS and as a model for reuse activities and education at VCRS.

Alys Culhane putting the finishing touches on a repurposed Frontiersmen newspaper box

As you all well know, I have been met with extreme resistance on the part of some VCRS staff and some VCRS board members. Still, my own, as well as the involvement of a staff of seven volunteers have managed to get thousands of books that ordinarily would have been shredded into the hands of appreciative readers.

It indicates in the VCRS Mission statement that recycling and reuse should be considered synonymous terms. Books ARE a reuse item, and thus enable me to draw parallels to other reuse items such as construction materials, textiles, composting materials, and the like. It’s for this reason that parallels should be drawn in future reuse planning ventures. A list follows, one in which I identify what I see as being that need to be addressed by this committee as you move forward in further defining and implementing the term reuse.

Reuse Coordinator Position: In order for the VCRS reuse program to be successful, you’ll need to hire a reuse coordinator. This individual will oversee the day-to-activities of the Reuse Volunteers and staff. At the same time, she or he will maintain ongoing communications with the regular VCRS staff, reuse employees, reuse volunteers and the Mat-Su Landfill Manager.

Reuse Staff Members: Roles of both the Reuse Center staff and the VCRS staff members should be clearly defined from the onset of this venture. The Re-use staff job descriptions should include grant writing, education, promotion, and publicity. One individual in particular should be in charge of monitoring the flow of reuse goods.

VCRS Board Member Involvement: In order for the reuse program to be successful, all VCRS Board members need to be involved; this means willing to keep the lines of communication open with all volunteers. This weak link in the Bright Lights Book Project has brought about considerable duress on my part as to how to go about further promoting VCRS.

Site Consideration and Facilities Planning: I speak from experience when I say that this is an essential consideration. It was determined that adequate space was not available on the VCRS ground floor for categorizing and distribution. Sarah Welton, the Pastor of the Church of the Covenant donated space for this purpose. This was fortuitous because eight of the ten project bookcases are located within a seven-block radius of the Church of the Covenant/Meeting House. Distribution now takes little time. The project has been so successful that we are now looking for a larger categorizing/cleaning workspace.

 Grants: The above cannot be accomplished without external funding, be this in the form of grants, contributions, or donations. But it can be done. Our initial request for a donation from Saltchuk for $25,000 was near-instantaneous. They were really impressed with the fact that this was to be a community venture – the high school students at the Mat-Su Vocational/Technical High School were to build this building.

It is my belief that grants, contributions, and donations for reuse staffing and additional building/site considerations will be easily obtainable. It is just going to take foresight and belief in reuse ventures for this to occur.

I thank you wholeheartedly for including me in on your ongoing discussion on the subject of reuse, this being a subject that I now have a vested interest in. I would like to be involved in future planning in whatever ways you all see applicable.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Read
Alys Culhane, Outreach Coordinator, Bright Lights Book Project

Next: 319. 11/18/21: Traipsing Down Memory Lane