“I think a lot of people are really happy that we’re taking all that thought and energy and time off their hands and we’re doing that for them.”
Businesses and non-profit organizations regularly open and move in Saskatoon. Today the StarPhoenix talks to Launne Kolla, who together with her husband Dillon opened Reroute Saskatoon at the end of May.
Both grew up as Saskatchewan farm kids and attended the University of Saskatchewan. They have lived in Saskatoon the past 10 years and have been major supporters of sustaining the environment. Reroute Saskatoon schedules pickups of donations, unwanted goods, waste and recyclables, keeping items out of the landfill and putting reusable items in the hands of people who need them most. Over the first month of business alone they say they have diverted 1,132 pounds from the landfill. They expect that number to increase as more people make use of their services.
Q: What is Reroute Saskatoon?
A: We’re a hassle-free curbside pickup service in Saskatoon where we pick up people’s household hazardous waste. We’re also taking in your SARCAN beverages and recycling items beyond the blue bin – things that there are programs for that can be recycled, but can’t be collected in our blue bins in Saskatoon. And then lastly, the big part is that we’re picking up people’s donations and taking them straight to organizations and charities in the city that will give it to people in need.
Q: Why did you open?
Q: What services do you provide?
A: One service is called the Recycler. That’s the one where we are recycling beyond the blue bin. We take all different things there’s different programs for. We’ll take textile recycling, metal recycling, home products, bags, baby belts, packaging. There’s all sorts of branded things that we’ll take. We’ll take dead pens, printer ink and used makeup containers.
Then we have the Refunder where we will take in your SARCAN recycling. If you don’t have time, we have a small fee and we’ll pick it up. And all the person needs is a Drop & Go account. Or you can choose to donate it a charity or organization.
There is also the Reducer, which is household hazardous waste pickup. This seems to be a popular one. The city has hazardous waste days every Wednesday at the landfill, but lots of people work and it just piles up. That’s your used oil, your propane tanks, even your aerosol cans like sunscreen and bug spray. There’s a whole laundry list of stuff that can be in that one.
We have a three-in-one package called the Expert Rerouter where we do all three of those – the recycler, the reducer and the refunder.
Then there’s The Giver, which is our donation pickup. You give us your donations and we’ll sort them and take them directly to the organizations that are looking for those items.
There’s The Big Refunder which is still your beverage recycling SARCAN pick up, but it’s just if you have a lot recyclables, if you had a big party or something like that you don’t want to deal with.
And the Big Reducer as well, which is if you clean out a shop or on the farm and you have a lot of hazardous waste, we’ll take that in.
We’re happy to do custom prices as well. We are all about working with businesses and residential people to get stuff out of there into the right place for them.
Q: What makes you stand out as a pickup organization?
A: We’re definitely unique in recycling items beyond the blue bin. The same with hazardous waste and taking in people’s beverage recycling. There isn’t a service like that in the city. For donations, we’re unique in that we’re picking up and taking them directly to charities and organizations in need. There are definitely those charities that will pick up for themselves or the community living bins where you can drop stuff off. We’re just another avenue if people don’t have time.
Q: Why would someone want to use your services?
A: I think a lot of people want to donate to the best place. You have those good intentions and then it takes a lot of work to Google and search out where is the best place to take this stuff. You phone them to find out if they’re actually taking it, and what are their hours? After all that it just ends up sitting in your car for three months or whatever. And then you just don’t have the time to get to the places. I think a lot of people are really happy that we’re taking all that thought and energy and time off their hands and we’re doing that for them. And people trust me because they know me from social media. I’m a trusted resource in Saskatoon so people are happy to let me do that for them.
Q: What resources do you provide on social media?
Q: How do people book pickups?
Q: Do you provide pickups outside of Saskatoon?
A: We’re open to pick up around Saskatoon. We just ask that if you live out of town there might be a small fee for the gas. Or we might try to pick up a few in your town. Definitely we’re open to out-of-town pickups.
Q: You support a number of charities?
A: We have a huge list. We’ve donated to Prairie Harm, CUMFI, and Sanctum – which supports mothers, children and babies in need. We’ve supported Dress for Success. There’s the Elizabeth Fry Society, there’s EGADZ. There’s the Riversdale Community Fridge where we’ll take food donations. We’re hoping maybe in garden season, if people have too many vegetables and they don’t know what to do with them, we can help. We’ve supported the Friendship Inn, we’ll do the food bank. There’s a ton and we’re just looking forward to rotating and supporting whoever is the best fit for those donations.
We’ve been told by some of the charities and organizations we support that sometimes they get too much of something they can’t use. Like 100 pounds of zucchini or something like that. We’ll be a middle man and for free we’ll donate our time and drop it off at the food bank or something. You like to kind of really help these donations be used in the most appropriate way and make sure everyone is getting what they need.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Reroute Saskatoon
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