Brighton’s resource goddess is appealing for help to create a sorting depot for reusable goods out of shipping containers.
Cat Fletcher, who runs the popular online Brighton Freegle project which has 22,000 local members, has launched a crowd-funding appeal to buy eight shipping containers.
These will then provide secure storage on disused “pop-up” sites, which they can be moved between as they become available.
She is currently working out of a large storage base at the Circus Street Market provided by Cathedral Developments, from which she intercepted and redistributed 250 tonnes of goods in the last year.
She said: “Cathedral gave me space in there for a couple of months to get the materials for the Waste House and I was in there for two and a half years.
“But I’m having to move out at the end of June when the site’s redeveloped.
“This project expansion will enable us to intercept more reusable goods and provide a more effective reuse service for the whole city.
“The containers will enable us to move the depot every few years from one development site to another with the minimum of fuss.
“We have eight shipping containers earmarked for the project. We just need to raise the £10,000 to purchase and deliver them.”
The plans have been praised by the city’s Green group of councillors and Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas.
Convenor of the Green group Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure and this project will help to match these up.
“We wish this visionary project every success and urge supporters to make a contribution to crowd funding this important campaign for our city.
“Cleaning up litter costs the taxpayer about £1bn a year and simply far too much of this is perfectly usable.”
Ms Lucas said: “I sincerely hope that this fantastic project gets the funding required to expand. This scheme would help promote the further re-use of unwanted goods and materials, and build upon the great work of Cat Fletcher and others.”
The crowd-funding campaign runs for five weeks. Click here for more.
The use of recycled shipping containers as a building material is a growing trend all over the world because of an abundance of the containers and shipping containers make excellent building materials because they are built to carry heavy loads and they reduce construction costs by greatly cutting the time it takes to erect a building. Building with the containers is safe, durable and sustainable. Construction is about 40 percent faster and 20 percent cheaper than traditional construction.