Highlights of the 2023 pop-up shop and workshop
Over 60,000 items totalling in excess of 13 tonnes were diverted from landfill! (We didn’t keep a tally after week 8 but we continued trading for 5 more weeks - imagine how much more was actually diverted from landfill!)
72 volunteers gave a total of 7200 hours at the pop-up (Not including out-of-shop hours for admin, planning, communications, posting, rescuing, and cleaning and sorting items at home – and possibly many other things.
Countless household items were donated to charities and care organisations including:
Household items to RIMERN (Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network).
Share the Dignity bags to Big Group Hug.
Old towels and linen to Team Jake (80kgs!).
Old towels and pet beds to various pet rescues.
Mobile phones and accessories to DV Safe Phone.
Sleeping bags and yoga mats for people sleeping rough, donated to Melbourne charity The Living Room.
Regular visitors to the pop-up included:
Aged-care and disability workers, for supplies for lifestyle classes.
Educators from local childcare centres, kinders and primary schools, for art materials from the repurpose corner.
Daphne, for repurposing materials to make Twiddle Mats for dementia patients in aged care.
Hahnie, for materials for her theatre arts programs for NDIS artists.
John, for materials for the Zero Waste Festival.
Lily, the 'Cape Lady', for fabrics to make superhero capes for very ill children in hospital.
Lynn, for footy gear for remote op shops.
Nelly, for items for Philippine workers.
Piper, for repurpose materials for her young art therapy students.
Sheryl and Christine, for fabrics to make Boomerang Bags.
Sophie from Awareaway, for reusable cups (eg KeepCups) for the Wangim Cup Project.
Some of the other not-for-profit and community groups who were able to source items for free or very low cost included Reservoir Neighbourhood House, SPAN Community House, Jika Jika Community Centre, Project Stationery and Project Pair Up.
The premises were also used as a drop-off collection point for donations for charities RIMERN and Share The Dignity.
Nearly 1,500 items were donated and then packed into a total of 79 ‘Share The Dignity’ bags to support their annual ‘It’s In The Bag’ drive. These gifts of dignity will be distributed by Share the Dignity, to people fleeing domestic violence or doing it tough this holiday season.
This year we tested and tagged over 400 rescued and donated electrical appliances, which were then donated to charities or sold at low cost through the pop-up. And we repaired dozens of items – enabling even more to be diverted from landfill.
We ran 26 workshops, teaching repairing, refurbishing and repurposing skills and catering for 160 participants, and one community market with 20 stallholders.
Funds were donated to the following organisations to assist their work throughout the Darebin community
Bridge Darebin
Reservoir Neighbourhood House
Span Community House
Jika Jika Community Centre.
More about the 2023 pop-up
About the shop
Come and see all the favourites from last year's pop-up – the free rummage room, bargain-priced rescued items, and local artists’ beautiful upcycled products. And more…
Preloved items at their best in the low-priced reLOVE gift shop,
Art and craft freebies at the rePurpose station, and
The community lounge – a place to sit awhile and enjoy some company.
The pop-up provides an opportunity for usable, preloved items to be rehomed.
It's just one of the options for rehoming usable preloved items instead of putting them on the nature strip for Darebin hard waste collection and risking them being crushed and going to landfill.
Other options include donating to other organisations or selling. Read some of the suggestions on the Darebin City Council website.
Donations - we are no longer accepting donations
Donations closed for 2023 at the end of July.
Here is the list of items we WERE accepting during the Darebin hard waste collection time.
Items in good condition with all working parts - and some less-than-perfect items for the rePurpose station. Nothing with rips or stains, chips or cracks, rust, mould or damp.
Black - for the retail or rummage room
Green - for the rePurpose station
Red - for our collections for charity/community/community assistance
Accessories: hats, scarves, glasses, bags, belts etc
Artwork & Picture Frames
Art Supplies: paints, pencils, brushes, canvases, paper, art tools etc
Bags: small backpacks, duffel bags etc
Books: good quality - No textbooks
Bottle tops & lids: plastic only
Bread Tags (Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs)
Buttons
Cards: mismatched playing cards
Cards: used greeting cards
Cassette tapes
CDs / DVDs: originals only
CDs / DVDs: scratched damaged - no covers
Ceramics/crockery: colourful only, chipped or broken for mosaics
Chopsticks
Corks
Cups: Reusable travel cups in excellent condition
Cups: Reusable travel cups - mismatched pieces - collected for Project Pair Up
Décor: small decorative homewares such as cushions, paintings, picture frames, figurines, throw rugs, mats, vases, clocks, lamps etc
Dress ups: children’s only
Egg cartons
Electrical appliances: (small only) with Australian plugs toasters, kettles, irons, lamps etc
Electrical Appliances: RIMERN - Excellent quality small appliances – toasters, kettles, microwaves
Fabric/material, leather, fabric samples and off-cuts etc (no deconstructed clothing)
Furniture: (Small and able to be lifted by one person) coffee table, hall table, foot stool, bedside table etc: assessed on a case-by-case basis
Games & puzzles: complete and in good condition
Gardening: small tools, pots, garden art etc
Ice cream/icy pole sticks
Jars: glass - clean without labels preferred
Jewellery
Jewellery: broken, metals beads etc
Jigsaw puzzles - complete and in good condition
Jigsaw puzzle pieces - incomplete
Kitchenware: good quality crockery, cutlery, utensils, pots & pans, bakeware
Knitting supplies: wool, needles, patterns etc
Magazines
Manchester & Linen: new, or in excellent condition
Manchester & Linen: clean & in good condition for Team Jake and pet rescues
Mobile Phones & accessories: Working only, for DV Safe Phone
Musical instruments: (small) working
Napery: tablecloths, table napkins, runners, placemats, tea towels etc
Newspapers
Paper: coloured scraps
Pet carriers and beds (small and medium size only) and accessories: in excellent condition for pet rescues
Plastic food containers: reusable – not takeaway containers
Plastic food containers: incomplete & mismatched pieces/accessories for Project Pair Up
Plastic tubing, plumbing tubing
Scooters, balance bikes & tricycles: (small) in good working order
Sea Shells
Sewing Supplies: buttons, threads, patterns, fabric samples and offcuts/scraps etc
Sports equipment: (small) rackets, balls, goggles etc We cannot accept helmets
Stationery: in good condition (not binders)
Stationery: in as new condition for Project Share Stationery (not binders)
String, ribbon
Tile or Deck samples
Toiletries: Toiletries & bathroom accessories in original sealed packaging (toothbrushes, soap holders, combs etc) for Share the Dignity
Totes & larger handbags: in excellent condition for Share the Dignity
Towels: for pet rescues
Toys: (small) clean, complete, not broken & in good condition - We cannot accept battery-operated toys
Toys: (larger) wooden only ie. dolls’ houses, toy kitchens, ride-ons etc. In great condition
Wool and knitting supplies
Wrapping paper: offcuts
Highlights at the 2023 pop-up
The community lounge
A comfy place to sit awhile, take a load off your feet, and watch everyone enjoying the pop-up shop! And a great place to see the DHRH mural painted by @Brascha Made It.
rePurpose station
The rePurpose station is the home for items that are not fit for their intended purpose, and other potential waste materials that may be suitable for reusing for other purposes including arts and crafts. These items will be available for free at the pop-up. These items will be diverted to chosen organisations, and not offered for taking at the pop-up. The rePurpose station is a drop-off point for items for Project Pair Up (www.facebook.com/ProjectPairUp) and Project Share Stationery.
Workshops
Read more about the 2023 pop-up WORKshop
Our 2023 workshops were made possible by grant funds from:
Darebin City Council’s Community Grants Program
Preston Connected Community
Lions Club of Northcote
Upcyclers
The upcyclers' corner is showcasing and selling gorgeous products made by local makers. All products use at least 50% materials sourced second-hand, or rescued or diverted from waste.
Some examples of the amazing products that are, or have been, for sale at the pop-up. Note that some items in these photos may have sold.
