October 20th: Austin’s 2nd annual Reuse Day!

Austin City Council proclaimed October 20, 2014, as Austin’s second annual Reuse Day! This proclamation highlights the City of Austin commitment to the purchase, use, and/or donation of reusable, reclaimed, and remanufactured products.I was honored to accept the proclamation  along with other Austin organizations who represented programs, organization and businesses that epitomize REUSE, including:Austin EcoNetwork, Ecology Action of Texas, Goodwill Industries of Central Texas,Re-Sourcery, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Treasure City Thrift, and the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development.Here is my acceptance speech from the event:We are very pleased to accept the City of Austin’s Proclamation for October 20th as Austin Reuse Day and the beginning of Reuse Week in Austin.Reuse is about extracting the highest value possible from a product or material– preserving and even enhancing the integrity of materials through imagination, creativity and intelligence.There are many ways that Austinites can support the reuse economy during this second annual Reuse week. Reuse is about car-sharing and bike-sharing, donating to and shopping at thrift stores. It is about darning socks, re-upholstering couches, using rechargeable batteries and bringing your own coffee mug to the coffee shop. It is about sharing yard tools with your neighbors, checking books out from the library or donating books to Recycled Reads, creating decorative mirrors from bicycle wheels or making robots from discarded computer parts. The City’s Shop Zero Waste initiative lists businesses that sell recycled or reused items, or offer repair or sharing services at LocallyAustin.org. You can also find these businesses by looking for this Shop Zero Waste decal in storefronts.Austin's reuse community is growing and we are grateful for all the individuals and organizations that promote reuse. We know that Reuse and a Sharing and Repairing Economy provide jobs and investment in our community. We know that aggressive Reuse will help Austin reach Zero Waste faster. We know Reuse supports our cultural arts and education systems. And we know that Reuse helps many people and organizations in our community save money and meet material needs for clothing, furniture, building materials, food and school supplies!Together, we look forward to bringing more awareness to reuse and encouraging Austinites to consider reuse options when they find a need for a new item or to start a new creative endeavor.Please join us for the Reuse Alliance international conference, ReuseConex 2014, next week, October 23-25 at the Austin Holiday Inn Midtown. The City of Austin is co-hosting this conference with numerous partners in reuse, including Austin Creative Reuse, Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, Habitat ReStore, Re-Sourcery and Treasure City Thrift. The event will bring over a hundred of reuse advocates to Austin for networking and learning.There are several events open to the public at ReuseConex. On Thursday, October 23 join us for the Ultimate Upcycle Challenge, and on Friday, October 24th for the ReFashion show and the screening of the documentary “Reuse! Because you can’t recycle the planet”.Follow along online with #REUSEATX.Thank you again to the City of Austin for this proclamation and recognition of the value and power of Reuse!Turn October 20th into National Reuse Day and make #reuse a national conversation topic. Sign the petition and be an eco-hero! http://ow.ly/ChBDA