Choose your own Reuse Adventure

You wake up in the morning, groggy. Were you really dreaming about a world without waste? Such a nice dream. It’s cozy in the bed and you don’t want to get up, but life calls. To stay in bed, keep reading. To get up, skip to paragraph 3.

Paragraph 2: You fall back asleep and re enter a world where people value the resources needed to make our things. Objects are designed to be repaired. There are libraries filled with tools and things to borrow. Packaging is reusable and beautifully made. You walk into a cafe and everyone is having their coffee in a ceramic mug. Hmm, coffee. To wake up keep reading.

Paragraph 3: You stumble into the kitchen to put on the coffee. You can’t wait for the smell and the warmth of a cup in your hands. You wait. Nothing happens. The coffee pot has stopped working. To throw the coffee pot away and get a new one skip to Paragraph 5. To repair the coffee pot, keep reading.

Paragraph 4: Having recently been to one of the ten Repair events Reuse Alliance hosted in 2024 you know how fun it is to try to repair it. And it could become part of the 4000+ lbs they diverted from the landfill this year, avoiding nearly 40,000 kg of CO2e that would have been required to make that stuff new. To attempt to repair it yourself skip to Paragraph 6. To bring it to the next Repair Fair, skip to paragraph 7.

Paragraph 5: You aren’t thinking that clearly without your coffee so you dispose of your coffee pot (to e-waste recycling if it has a digital display of course) and set about acquiring a new one. You consult Reuse Alliance’s Virtual Reuse Hub to find the models that are easiest to repair and least likely to break in the future and to find places to shop for a used coffee pot. If you’re overwhelmed, skip to paragraph 2 to take a nap. To daydream about a physical Reuse Hub skip to Paragraph 8.

Paragraph 6: Empowered by a recent visit to a Repair Fair where you watched a friendly repair coach fix your lamp, you decide to repair it yourself. Through the Virtual Reuse Hub you find resources - step by step instructions and videos - to help you repair the coffee pot. Success! Such a satisfying feeling! You want to share it with others. You sign up to volunteer at the next Repair Fair to experience more of this feeling. You recall the 2024 Reuse Awareness Campaign … This is Reuse! You’re so grateful. Skip to Paragraph 9 to donate the money you’ve saved on a new coffee pot to Reuse Alliance.

Paragraph 7: You visit the Reuse Alliance events calendar and see the next Repair Fair is two weeks away. You can’t wait two weeks for coffee! If only there was a Reuse Hub where you could bring your coffee pot today. Skip to Paragraph 9 to help make the Reuse Hub a reality by donating to Reuse Alliance.

Paragraph 8: You imagine a place with friendly staff that can answer all your reuse questions. Welcome to the Reuse Hub. A place where items are given a second chance, where things are borrowed, repurposed, resold, and repaired. A place where you can learn reuse skills and be inspired by new reuse ventures. A place creating good local jobs in the reuse economy. Skip to Paragraph 9 to help make the Reuse Hub a reality by donating to Reuse Alliance.

Paragraph 9: We’ve had an incredible year and we have big plans for 2025 including increasing support for our members, improving our Virtual Reuse Hub, and creating a Reuse Hub prototype in the real world. Your tax deductible donations can help make the best parts of this adventure a reality: a world without waste! Please give today.

With Gratitude from the Reuse Alliance Team