Monday, November 23, 2015

Limerick pitches in for FreeTrade Ireland Reuse Day

The people of Limerick are being invited to pass their unwanted items on to new owners as part of FreeTrade Ireland Reuse Day at Mungret Civic Amenity Centre this Saturday (November 28th).


The Southern Region Waste Management Office (SRWMO), Limerick City and County Council and FreeTrade Ireland are promoting the event and are inviting the public to drop in to the recycling centre and learn about the free online reuse service, FreeTradeIreland.ie.

Reuse through FreeTrade Ireland is free of charge meaning householders and businesses avoid costs associated with skip hire or other disposal costs.

“FreeTradeIreland.ie is a smarter resource option for everyone involved. It benefits all users involved in terms of time and cost savings, ensures quality items live longer and serve more people and it reduces the need to use new raw materials for make more new items,” said Pauline McDonogh, Regional Waste Prevention Co-ordinator, Southern Waste Region.

“The service is completely free to use whether you want to post a free ad offering an item or whether you are looking to obtain an item for free. ‘Do One More Thing’ is the theme of our recently launched Southern Regional Waste Management Plan and reuse through FreeTrade Ireland is a classic example of something simple that the people of Limerick can do to prevent waste and reuse resources while saving money too.

"We want householders and business in the Southern Region to start thinking about the life span of their items and consider if they can have a second life by reusing their resources rather than disposing of them," added Ms. McDonogh.

The FreeTrade Ireland team will be present at Mungret Civic Amenity Centre to raise awareness of the national reuse service. Already, FreeTradeIreland.ie members from the Southern region have reused almost 13,000 kg of items. This includes items such as suites of furniture, televisions, a garden shed, exercise equipment and much more. By using the online service members can save money between not having to purchase a new item and the disposal costs avoided by passing the item on instead of disposing or recycling it.

“The items on the freetradeireland.ie site are ones that people no longer wanted but felt were simply too good to throw away”, commented Sinead McDonnell, Environmental Awareness Officer, Limerick City and County Council.

“Using the service is easy and very effective. Once someone spots an item on the freetradeireland.ie site that they want, they simply contact the person offering the item and arrange to collect their new item. It saves the new owner the price of buying a new item and the member offering the item can save the time and money associated with taking it to the local recycling centre or disposing of it within a skip.

Items can be posted up on the FreeTradeIreland.ie website and new owners found in minutes without the trouble of having to take the item anywhere or spend any money. It’s a win-win situation and it’s all for free," she added.

Visit FreeTradeIreland.ie or southernwasteregion.ie for more. FreeTradeIreland items may also be viewed on Facebook or on the free FreeTrade Ireland App, available on all mobile platforms.