* We are adding updates to this page as they become available.
Finger Lakes ReUse Updates (as of 5/27/20):
ReUse is all about the people. We care about the well-being of everyone in our community and hope this message finds you safe and healthy.
We are very happy to announce that starting today, Wednesday, 5/27, we are accepting appointments to shop at the Ithaca ReUse Center (214 Elmira Road)!! The Ithaca ReUse Center will be open daily (10 am – 6 pm). Show up for your appointment anytime within the one-hour window allotted, and shop as long as you want! This will help us all maintain safe physical distance and avoid crowding or lines.
Regarding donations, ReUse is only accepting materials through our pick-up service for the time being – stay tuned for upcoming announcements about the reopening of Triphammer ReUse Center and donation acceptance areas at both locations in the coming weeks.
Come get your reuse fix of all kinds of housewares, building materials, electronics, media and more at the Ithaca ReUse Center:
Finger Lakes ReUse Updates (as of 5/19/20):
We’ve moved our online shop curbside pick-up to prepare for opening our ReUse Centers!
Curbside pick-up of online purchases is now exclusively available at the Triphammer ReUse Center (2255 N Triphammer Rd, Ithaca NY).
Finger Lakes ReUse Updates (as of 4/7/20):
Great news, ReUsers! We have launched a new online shopping experience at shop.ithacareuse.org.
Local reused materials can be purchased here with no-contact local pickup and delivery options. A wide variety of materials are available, including building materials, hardware, furniture, clothing, textiles, media, household items, and electronics, with new items posted frequently.
ReUse is offering curbside pickup times between 11:00 am – 3:00 pm seven days a week at the the Triphammer ReUse Center (2255 N Triphammer Rd, Ithaca NY), and delivery options in Tompkins County. Our workers have been wearing face masks for more than two weeks, and we are practicing frequent hand-washing and physical distancing to ensure the safest handling practices possible.
Purchases support Finger Lakes ReUse’s waste diversion efforts as well as their job training and community support programs. Check out what’s available at the store today:
In response to recommendations and concerns by Tompkins County and NYS leadership, and out of deep care and concern for our many supporters and fellow community members, the board and leadership of Finger Lakes ReUse have determined that we will close our two ReUse Centers to the public effective immediately as of Wednesday, March 18th until further notice. All scheduled programming during that time is also suspended, including our ReSET job training program and Ithaca Fixers Collective repair group.
Finger Lakes ReUse updates (as of 4/2/20):
- We are developing Revised Workplace Safety Guidelines, to keep all ReUse workers, shoppers and donors as safe as possible. These include sanitizing our facilities, and new rules including requiring distancing of at least 6 ft, wearing facemasks whenever working with or in proximity of inventory and other people, and washing hands regularly.
- We are developing an online store! There will be a mix of items just like our physical ReUse Centers, and we will offer local pick-up and a delivery option. We will email you once it is live. We hope you’ll help us spread the word!
- We are still offering pickups of materials in Tompkins County as long as the items can be available on a covered front porch, inside a garage with the door open or on the driveway under a tarp when we arrive, now for a $40 fee. Fill out our pickup request form HERE. We are not allowing our workers to enter homes or be in proximity of donors and appreciate your cooperation with this.
- We are still offering our ReUse Materials Access Program – giving people access to the materials they need. More information on that program HERE.
- Fill out our wishlist HERE if you have a specific item you are looking for now – if we have the items you need and we can arrange a way for you to purchase and pick-up them up safely, we will give you a call or email.
- Shop our eBay listings, featuring electronics and more 24-hours a day, HERE.
- Join the reusable and washable mask-making effort for – sign up HERE to let us know you’re interested. Sewers welcome but no skills necessary.
- Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement: a call for mural proposals for our Ithaca ReUse Center and box trucks. Projects to be completed later this year.
The health and well-being of our staff, volunteers, customers and donors is a priority, and safety remains a top organizational value through everything we do. We will continue to monitor updates from the Tompkins County Health Department and the NYS Department of Health to keep our facilities and ourselves healthy when we do re-open. We understand that now is the time to act, along with other community institutions, to help mitigate the rapid spread of this virus.
Throughout the closure, Finger Lakes ReUse will continue to accept financial contributions at ithacareuse.org/donate. Gift cards are available to purchase through this form:
Public support is especially appreciated during this time and will help Finger Lakes ReUse to be prepared to handle what we anticipate to be an increased local need for materials once reopened.
Finger Lakes ReUse values its role as a community service, with 42 living wage employees, 14 job trainees and apprentices, and more than 50 regular monthly volunteers. It has become necessary to take the painful step to furlough the majority of our workforce and we hope this will be a short term solution while we determine the methods that will ensure the safety of our workers as well as the public. We expect to reopen in the coming weeks, in order to maintain access to essential goods, especially those who are most vulnerable.
We operate an online store at ebay.com/str/ithacareuse, and expect to begin expanding our online catalog. We are interested in what materials people are most in need of or interested in, so we invite the public to continue to use our Wish List at https://ithacareuse.org/wishlist/.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a social and economic justice issue, as well as a health crisis. We will be actively considering different ways of doing business, and we invite your thoughts here:
Now more than ever is a time for community resiliency. Modeling resiliency is about helping others as we help ourselves.
We look forward to continuing to do this work with you.
In the meantime, we encourage everyone to prioritize their personal safety and health through the following recommendations from the CDC:
- Take social distancing seriously, even when apparently healthy:
- Avoid physical gatherings with others
- Maintain a 6′ distance from others
- Wash hands regularly with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds.
- Avoid touching your face.
And please, check on and be kind to your neighbors, support the nonprofit organizations that help people in need, and the local businesses that help our community thrive.