HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A unique partnership is beginning to blossom between Hillsborough County and Goodwill Suncoast, and it's all based on an unlikely source — trash.
They have set up a one-stop shop in Gibsonton for residents to get rid of their junk.
In the past, perfectly reusable goods like books and kids' shoes may have been just tossed into the landfill, but now Hillsborough County is making it much easier to re-purpose and reuse.
Byron and Tonya True came for the landfill and stayed for the Goodwill.
"Anytime we need to get rid of things at the landfill, we also have the opportunity to drop at Goodwill at the same time. It keeps us from going to two different locations," said Byron.
According to the county, the number one reason most people don't reuse, re-purpose or recycle is that it just takes too much time and effort.
"From the county's perspective, we were realizing a lot of quality items were ending up in our disposal facility where it just takes up space in the landfill," said Daniel Gallagher, Hillsborough County Recycling Coordinator
So the county thought, why not bring Goodwill to the landfill, and the pilot program was launched.
"If you are going to come here to dump, and then you realize you got some donations that can actually do good in the community, this is the perfect one-two punch," said Andrew Przybzewski with Goodwill Suncoast.
Przybzewski believes it's the first partnership like this in the country.
"We believe it is, and it is an incredible success already; just from September when we started up until December, we've had over 3,000 donations saving over 6,000 pounds from going into the landfill," said Przybzewski.
The donation site is always staffed with Goodwill representatives.
"When residents come here, they have the ability to learn, hey, 'I always wanted to donate this, but I never knew if it ever could be donated?' Does it need to be repaired? Is it clean enough? Goodwill will tell you if it is," said Gallagher.
The county said the reaction so far has been great.
"This is one of the best things I have seen. I've lived in Atlanta, I've lived in Savannah, we've lived all over, and this is the first place I've seen where you can come to the landfill, and they are actively trying to prevent you from throwing things away that aren't garbage," said Byron.
Gibsonton is the only location in Hillsborough County currently offering this option, but they hope to add more Goodwill drop-offsites at their other community collection sites soon.
