Did you know the Our Upcycling Centre in Penticton has been operating for 20 months and is now looking for a new location?
The Okanagan Upcycling Resource Society (OURS) would like to thank the Penticton and District Society for Community Living at 180 Industrial Ave. W for allowing us to share their location, affording us a retail space and a place to operate. Without the support and confidence of Tony Lang and the PDSCL board of directors this project would never have developed. Now due to building development at PDSCL the Our Upcycling Centre had to find a new location.
During those 20 months the Our Upcycling Centre was able to provide used building materials to the South Okanagan community. The store provided citizens and contractors access to these materials at very fair prices. All of these supplies came from the landfill at Campbell Mountain in collaboration with the RDOS, local building contractors, retail suppliers and local citizens.
The Okanagan Upcycling Resource Society board of directors has determined that during these 20 months the need for such a centre redirecting used building materials is a viable venture that is a win-win for all members of our South Okanagan community. It reduced the footprint on our local landfills, created jobs, helped our community realize the potentials of re-uinsg materials and was built and developed without dependency on government subsidies.
The outcomes of the project prove that with community co-operation, dedication of volunteers and paid staff this service meets a community need. The venture generates enough of a cash flow to pay the wages of four employees, build a cash surplus, purchase a delivery van, build a portable office and accumulate assets. The centre also hosts Repair Café to restore damaged items.
The challenge now is to find a new home in the South Okanagan that will accomodate the storage and retail sales of used building materials.
The board would like to extend their gratitude to all who have helped make this project possible. We invite you to participate in the future growth and development by contacting us at 250-462-7431 or info@ours-penticton.ca.
OURS board of directors