Municipal Reuse & Repair Programs

Reuse and repair extend the useful lives of many items, conserve natural resources, reduce waste disposal, and save people and communities money.

Swap Shop

Swap Shop in South Hadley. Photo Credit: South Hadley DPW

A swap shop is a local place where residents can exchange used items that are in good working condition.

Typically located at a community’s transfer station or recycling drop-off center, the swap shop is based on the adage that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”

Learn about MassDEP funding for swap shops.
 

Video of Swap Shop in Wellesley

Repair Event

Repair Café in Bolton. Photo Credit: Nashoba Valley Rotary Club

A repair event brings members of the community together to help build a culture of repair, and keep items that are still useful out of the waste stream.

It is a free, hands-on opportunity for people with broken or damaged items - from bicycles to clothing, furniture to jewelry, consumer electronics to kitchen appliances - to connect with volunteer “fixers” who can repair them.

Learn about MassDEP funding for repair events.

Zero Waste Day

"Recycle Your Reusables" Annual Drop-Off Day in Ayer. Photo Credit: Ayer Recycling Committee

Also known as a Reuse Rodeo or donation event, a Zero Waste Day makes it easy for residents to donate gently used items to multiple non-profits at the same place and time. See below for a list of commonly accepted items.

Your community may also choose to provide a paper-shredding service and/or options for items that can be difficult to recycle, such as consumer electronics, in conjunction with a donation event.

Learn about MassDEP funding for donation events.

Library of Things or Tool Library

Library of Things at Peabody Institute Library, Danvers. Photo Credit: MassDEP

Creating a "lending library" offers residents access to tools and other useful items that they might need occasionally or for a specific purpose, but would otherwise be burdensome for them to own and store, and would likely sit idle for long periods of time.

Encouraging people to borrow rather than buy these items not only reduces waste, but also saves money. See Additional Resources below for a list of commonly available items.

Learn about MassDEP funding for tool/thing libraries.
 

MassDEP Funding

The Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) encourages your town or city to implement local reuse and repair programs, and offers financial assistance in support of them, including:

Program	Assistance Available
Recycling Dividends Program (RDP)	Your community may earn 1-2 RDP Points for implementing various Reuse initiatives.
Drop-off Equipment	Your community may apply for up to $6,000 for a municipality run Reuse Swap Shop for durable household goods.
Reduce, Reuse, Repair Micro-Grants	Your community may apply for up to $10,000 for short-term projects that reduce waste through reuse, repair, donation, sharing and/or rescue.

You may review the relevant eligibility criteria in the documents below.