Repair and reuse – helpful resources to support charities’ sustainability goals
07/10/2023
Sustainability is about more than just our physical environment – it is also about how we support our people and communities, how we protect ourselves from financial turbulence, and ultimately how we safeguard our future.
We are all consumers - as individuals and as organisations. We all have an impact on where, how and what we’re buying and disposing. An effective way that organisations could look into are ways of reusing existing items, rather than buying new ones.
According to a 2019 study by British Heart Foundation, over a third of UK adults dispose of furniture rather than donate or look into repair options.
A number of platforms and projects now exist to help charities and voluntary organisations source useful donated items – from stationery and electronics to toilet rolls – that other organisations either have a surplus of or no longer have a need for. Charities can then use these items themselves or make them available for their service users.
1. Globechain
Globechain is a platform where businesses and other organisations list items they no longer need. It is particularly useful for charities and non-profits looking for technical items used in a business or institutional setting.
Charities can sign up for free, and then search for specific items or set up alerts so they are notified when the item they need becomes available.
2. In Kind Direct
In Kind Direct distributes resources donated by UK companies to charities, community groups, food banks and schools who need them. This includes essentials like toilet rolls, personal hygiene products, cleaning and laundry supplies, period products, and baby essentials and clothing.
Visit the In Kind Direct website or make an enquiry via info@inkinddirect.org.
Affiliate schemes:
Charities and voluntary organisations can also benefit from In Kind Direct’s affiliate schemes and partnerships. One, with Ricoh, gives charities access to refurbished photocopier-printers. Another, with the
Directory of Social Change, provides charities wishing to become DSC members with 20% off the membership fee.
3. Warp It
Charities may have items of their own that they no longer need. Warp It (which stands for Waste Action Reuse Portal) is a network that allows organisations to swap and trade resources, such as office chairs and stationery. Voluntary organisations can sign up for free, and then either look for items they need or offer items of their own. Warp It minimises waste by first ensuring that nobody internally would benefit from the items before they are offered externally.
Find out more via Warp It’s FAQ page, or email info@warp-it.co.uk.
4. Olio
Olio is a mobile food-sharing app that aims to tackle food waste.
It can be used by individuals, organisations and businesses to connect those with surplus food to others nearby who are in need. Find out more about the Olio app.
5. Toiletries Amnesty
The focus of Toiletries Amnesty is to alleviate hygiene poverty and reduce waste. It does this by matching those with excess stock of hygiene products with organisations and services that need them the most, such as homeless shelters, mental health teams, family and children’s centres, and food banks.
By signing up to the Toiletries Amnesty directory and specifying the items they need, charities and voluntary organisations will be searchable by donors in the area who may be able to help.
Find out more about Toiletries Amnesty.
Sustainability: seeing the bigger picture
Making more effective use of existing resources, rather than buying new, can not only have a positive impact on the physical environment; it can also support other strands of sustainability. For example, it can help charities and voluntary organisations to reduce their costs – improving financial sustainability. It can help them to motivate their staff, members and volunteers, by showing that the organisation cares about its impact on others – supporting people sustainably. It can help make sustainability strategies more achievable – supporting strategy and planning.
Read the entire series
- Sustainability and the role of the voluntary sector
- Supporting organisations to become financially sustainable
- Strategy, planning and sustainability in the voluntary sector
- Putting people at the hear of your sustainability strategy
- Using technology sustainably - how charities can support digital inclusion
- Legal resources to help organisations operate sustainably
