APPLETON (NBC26) — Habitat for Humanity is commonly known for improving access to affordable housing but the Habitat Restores in Appleton also have another mission - recycling.
"Of course we have our mission which is to help fund all the affordable housing programs that we have with Habitat for Humanity, but another one of our missions is to divert materials from local landfills," said Amy Graber, the manager of Habitat Restore West.
A team of volunteers called "recycologists" strip recyclable materials from broken or unsellable and trade them in. The proceeds go towards Habitat programs and the useable materials are kept out of landfills.
Graber says the Habitat Restore East in Appleton has had a recycling program for the last several years, but the program is new to the Habitat Restore West. Currently a team of just three volunteers give their time to the recycling program five days a week.
That team of three diverted more than 1.5 million pounds of useable materials from local landfills in 2020 and recently raised more than $5,200 for Habitat programs.
Graber says people can donate just about any household object with recyclable materials such as lamps, chairs, or kitchen appliances. You can drop off your donations at the Appleton Habitat Restore West or East.
