Grants At-A-Glance
"Goodwill Drop-off Donation Location Project"

Oconto County, Oconto, Wisconsin

Date Completed: December 31, 2000
Total Grant Amount: $38,248 Contact: Peter Conrad, Solid Waste Administrator (920) 834-6827

Project Objectives: Oconto County and Goodwill Industries worked cooperatively to provide donation locations at recycling drop off locations located throughout the County. The objectives of this effort focused on:

• Providing a convenient location for donation of charitable items for County residents;
• Reducing the overall tonnage of material being landfilled and reusing useable items whenever possible;
• Ensuring that only high quality re-saleable items are donated;
• Providing an overall good image of the Goodwill program;
• Allowing for the efficient and cost effective pick-up of materials for Goodwill.

Background/Challenges: Oconto County is large and primarily rural and as such donating to charitable organizations is at best inconvenient, and at worst, impossible for many County residents. The minimum time of travel to a charitable donation center is one-half hour, and the maximum time can be up to one and a half hours. Because of the large time and mileage investments, many County residents either cannot afford to donate or choose not to, and subsequently material that could be reused is instead landfilled. However, from past experience, it was apparent that significant amounts of reusable material could be recovered from the County each year.

Results/Knowledge Gained: In 1999 twenty-three 10' x 14' collection buildings were installed at recycling drop-off centers throughout Oconto County. Inside each building three containers measuring approximately 30 inches by 60 inches by 68 inches were housed. These containers are where donated goods are to be placed and are on wheels for easy loading and unloading. Over 114 tons of useable material was donated to Goodwill in the year 2000 through this cooperative effort. This program was very easy to implement at a relatively low cost of approximately $4,500 per site. Using the large mobile containers has proven to be very cost effective for Goodwill as their workers can move a significant amount of material in a short period of time and can also maximize hauling capacity. Information and education are critical components of the program. The public must be informed on proper donations, or significant amounts of unusable material will be inadvertently collected.

Shared Knowledge: Overall, this seems to be a very simple and effective way to provide a service to the public at a low cost that benefits all parties involved. It would be the recommendation of Oconto County that all Responsible Units, especially those that serve rural areas, investigate the possibility of coupling with a locally operated charity to provide donation locations at recycling drop-off centers. Even in times of diminishing fiscal support, this program can be operated with very little stress on financial resources.

Summary: Oconto County and Goodwill are very happy with the results achieved by this effort. A convenient donation location was provided to all County residents with the effect of having a large volume of material diverted from the landfill. Both parties are looking forward to maintaining this relationship and with continued education of the public and site attendants significant amounts of high quality goods should continue to be donated.