Many people find themselves decluttering this time of year. It’s somewhat of a ritual: boxing up the holiday decor and making homes clean and shiny for a fresh start to the year ahead. Bags and boxes are filled to the brim with clothes we no longer wear or toys that have seen more action in days past. Goodwill stores all across the Region see lines of cars dropping off donations, but most people do not know that many items that they deem unfit to donate can actually also be given to Goodwill. Goodwill is a huge contributor to recycling efforts in its communities. When clothing, home supplies, even electronics are not worthy to put on the sales floor, they are separated and recycled.
“Textiles being the example, if an item of clothing doesn't sell in the store, then we find what's the next life for that sweater or that blanket or that ratty old t-shirt you don’t think anybody wants. They can be sold in the industry where they make wiper cloths or rags for manufacturing. It can be shredded into installation and composting applications,” Debie Coble, president and CEO at Goodwill Industries of Michiana said.
Some Goodwills actually process textiles, basically boiling down the material until it is in a fibrous state to be reused again. Metals, cardboard, and plastics are also recycled, and Goodwill often works with companies who do buy-backs for old electronic devices. Companies like HP and Dell dismantle laptops and other technology to reuse the parts and pieces.
“Our work keeps these things out of the landfill,” said Coble.
The Goodwill campus in Gary, built on Ridge Road in 2018, actually features four distinct operations. The Gary Excel Center, which is an adult high school where students earn their Core 40 diplomas, is located there. The Center for Career Connections, a workforce development facility, is also there. This center is where employers work with Goodwill to hold hiring events and also where valuable tools are taught, including skills training, resume writing, and job interview preparedness. The third operation on the Gary campus is the Nurse Family Partnership Center for Lake County, which is responsible for partnering first-time moms with nurses to better empower families and ensure babies thrive. The fourth function of the Gary Campus is the ever popular “pound store” where customers can shop by the pound.
“Items are not hanging on racks; they’re on tables. It’s a little like a Black Friday feel where people are pushing and shoving to find out what’s at the bottom of that table,” said Coble.
Textiles sell for $1.39 a pound at the pound store in Gary, and flea-marketers love it.
The bulk of the 100,000 square foot facility is dedicated to this operation of salvage work of all commodities: textiles, metals, cardboard, and books. Since the Gary campus has been open, over 8,000 tons of items have been kept out of the landfill.
“It’s significant. It’s not being thrown away, and it’s not going to waste. We’re finding purpose for those items in different ways, and we’re teaching and training while we do it. We’re taking those dollars, and we’re putting them back into the mission of Goodwill with all the other things that we do," said Coble.
Goodwill’s mission from its conception has been about giving people the tools they need to flourish and become self-sufficient. Goodwill Industries of Michiana has created numerous pieces that work together in a beautifully cohesive puzzle to do just that. It is educating adults who had barriers keeping them from earning their high school diplomas, helping families with those barriers like with the fabulous educational babysitting facility within the Excel Center so parents don’t have to worry about childcare while pursuing their education. It is actively training individuals incredibly valuable skills for job placement and better pay. To top it off, it is considering the environment while it is doing all of this. It's doing its part to minimize the amount of trash that goes into our landfills; always looking for the next positive venture to better their communities. Goodwill Industries of Michiana is changing lives in plenty more ways than people have ever heard about.
To find out more about Goodwill’s locations and programs, visit https://goodwill-ni.org/