— from Pete Moe —
Three years ago, on Tuesday February 9, 2013 a massive fire consumed The Exchange. In memory of that event, the Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) board has decided to update the community on the progress of the rebuild.
“We have been collecting questions from the community for several months now on our website, on our Facebook page, and at the super market for that matter, ” says ORS board president Tim Blanchard. “The idea was to build a Frequently Asked Questions page on our website to address these questions, and keep it updated as new questions come up.”
The FAQ page, which you can find here, addresses all kinds of issues from “What’s the timeline for opening a new Exchange?” to “Have you looked into financing options for The Exchange?” to “Will ORS have a long-term lease?”
“The FAQ addresses many questions, including some of the challenging questions we have been wrestling with about how we can get this done,” says Blanchard. “Our intention has always been to be as transparent as possible, and this FAQ page will help us do that.”
If the community would like to submit a question to the FAQ, ORS asks that you send your question to info@exchnageorcas.org with ‘FAQ’ in the subject line.
For more on ORS, The Exchange, the Orcas Island Waste Stream, to donate, or to volunteer, visit their website, at www.exchangeorcas.org.
The Exchange/Orcas Recycling Services is a community-driven non-profit with a mission to:
“Build a zero-waste community through service, education, and stewardship of our waste/resource stream.” The Exchange/ORS has been in operation since 1984, and managing the Orcas Island Transfer Station since September 2013. www.exchangeorcas.org.
I feel that even thinking about building an exchange that costs $593,000 is just so wrong and totally goes against what recycling and reuse are all about. All we really need is say a metal roof to keep things dry. We don’t even need sides for that matter. The thing islanders loved about the exchange was that it was funky, built out of stuff that was brought in by others. It had island character. Anyone else feel the same way?
Well, yes, and then again, maybe not. Depends on what you want and what day you want it. A place where you dump junk, a consignment shop or what it was before – a true exchange my junk for your junk. I don’t think anyone would disagree that it was becoming too much a place to dump stuff and yet every time I said that, something would turn up that I needed and couldn’t find any where else. I will never forget coming up a section of a ridge panel short for the rebuild of a barn roof. On a lark, went to exchange and lo, there it was. A section of ridge panel right color right shape and almost new. The smell, the mud and the useless stuff was all OK that day.
All I can remember about the Exchange was the poor stuffed animals getting moldy. Electronics, clothing and stuffed animals do much better in an enclosed space.