After racking up 27,000 pounds of design materials, the Green Design Center and the American Society of Interior Designers Wisconsin chapter hope to give it all away this weekend.
Together, the center and society are hosting “Re_Purposeful,” a second annual giveaway of materials like fabrics, tiles, carpet squares and laminate chips that are no longer needed by their original owners.
The giveaway event is free and open to the general public. Organizers of the event have been reaching out to area nonprofit organizations, schools and teachers to spread awareness of the event and encourage anyone to stop by and rummage through their collection.
Attendees can take as much as they want from the collection of used materials – at no cost.
The Green Design Center, based in Waukesha, and ASID’s Wisconsin chapter created the event to help give used materials a second life, one outside landfills.
“As the design community as a whole (has started) to look further and further into our environmental impact, it became very clear that we could make a difference, even on such a small local level, to eliminate some of the waste that we produce,” said Kelsey Holtz, an interior designer at the Green Design Center and chair of the sustainability committee for ASID’s state chapter.
One of the most significant sources of waste that the design community produces are design samples and trend materials that fade in and out of style, Holtz said.
Since March, Re_Purposeful organizers have been taking in donations of materials from regional design showrooms and product representatives – anyone with extra materials in their design libraries.
Materials have been stored in extra warehouse space at the Green Design Center.
Last year’s event featured a giveaway worth 11,000 pounds of materials.
The 2015 event will run today from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Green Design Center, located at 2201 Badger Court in Waukesha.
Admission is free. Organizers recommend attendees make a donation toward event costs.
In addition to the giveaway, Re_Purposeful will feature raffles and booths of other green-focused organizations, including Habitat for Humanity’s Waukesha ReStore and the Victory Garden Initiative.
Holtz said the center and ASID aim to distribute all 27,000 pounds of materials. Anything left over, however, will be stored for the year until the next giveaway event.
