In a way, the annual Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale – now in its 50th year – has become one of the largest waste-disposal events in the long history of Saturday morning trips to the garbage dump.
Collecting stuff for the garage sale of all garage sales has never been discriminatory; volunteers working the drop-off area the five days before the event have historically taken almost anything that’s been stuck in a garage or attic – as long as it’s not alive or decaying.
But the volume had begun to rise so precipitously over the last decade that the island’s environment- and cost-conscious Rotarians were beginning to feel guilty. Well, maybe more like exhausted.
They decided it was time to solve the problem after Bainbridge Disposal hauled away a record 75 tons of rejects for several hours after the 2005 rummage extravaganza ended.
“Over the last 10 years we’ve become more aware of how much the leftovers were costing us,” said Joanne Ellis, a former chair of the Rotary Auction who is now the event’s recycling coordinator. “It has become the most expensive thing about the auction, with anything broken or spoiled going to the landfill.”
Don Mannino, who served as site manager for more than a decade until this year, said the big change came when it was decided to haul away the rejects Sunday morning rather than during a one-hour period after the sale ended at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“We’d let people and charities like Goodwill pick over the stuff for only an hour or so before the Bainbridge Disposal trucks would start coming in,” Mannino said. “Everyone would start throwing stuff in the back of the crushers (as many as six trucks these days), and we had a great time doing it. Then they haul it away.”
Mannino said people just wanted to “get it all done in one day,” but one hour didn’t give the charities much time to collect what they wanted. “That and the fact it took so long. I was working from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. the Saturday of the sale, and I’m 76 now. That had to change, so now the crushers come in on Sundays. It really made a difference.”
With more time for perusing the leftovers, charities and individuals made bigger hauls. Ellis said that Goodwill usually backed up only one truck most years but it needed three of them on site last year, when only 30 tons were hauled to the landfill.
Rotarians have become more active over the years in finding ways to recycle what people didn’t buy.
First, they started rethinking the life of items that were still desirable – despite not being selected by the public – because they had already passed the broke-or-unusuable test that the Rotarians use to decide what donations can be sold at the rummage sale. They separate those items from the trash at the event’s site.
Rotarians also became more creative in how rejected items can be reused. For example, hundreds of flower vases are donated annually but are rarely purchased. But local florists – many of whom sold the vases in the first place – are happy to take them back, especially when they’re delivered. They also will “redistribute” containers of leftover clothes, books, toys and many other childrens’ items to foreign countries that are happy to have them.
Another important recycling adjustment was the decision to use more kitchen items that can be composted.
“We have between 800 and 900 volunteers over seven days,” Ellis said. “We serve two meals a day, and while there aren’t that many volunteers daily, we end up making between 200 and 300 meals every day. So we started using more recyclable materials for that, too, and that’s made a big difference in cutting down our waste.”
The Rotary Auction works closely with Kitsap County to accept recycled computers, monitors, and other technology items. “And Don (Mannino) has been working with the county to come here for hazardous wastes like pesticides and other chemicals, which we place in secure storage drums.”
There are some items that end up in the landfill because no one wants them, and they are not recyclable, at least at this point.
“Children’s safety car seats are tough ones for us because we get a lot of them,” Ellis said. “There’s not enough metal in them to recycle, and you can’t resell them because of the safety certification issue. And most of them you can’t give away.”
But volunteers work hard at reusing whatever they can. For example, many of the hundreds of donated bicycles aren’t in good working condition. But several volunteers mix and match the parts and then prep them for the sale so the bikes will have a new life with an appreciative youngster.
While reducing the event’s footprint is important because the event keeps growing, Mannino said the number of items donated leveled off just a bit last year.
“People didn’t drop off as much because with the economy they couldn’t buy as much as they usually do to replace the old stuff,” he said. “On the other hand, because they couldn’t buy new stuff they came to buy more old stuff. I guess that makes sense.”
The auction took a dramatic increase in donations about 10 years ago.
“It used to be we took in what we thought were a lot,” Ellis said. “We used to put it all in the pit area behind Commodore School. But now we’re on five or six acres. And the volume has increased in direct proportion to the number of people attending.”
Mannino says he’s never seen anything like it. “We just keep taking everything they’ll give us, but at least we have somewhat of a handle on it now.”
Everybody seems to love the rummage sale – with at least one exception.
“The guys at the dump hate to work during that week,” he said. “People get into cleaning house to donate to us, but what they don’t clean up and donate they drop off at the dump. It’s a pretty busy week out there.”
Auction and rummage sale details
The 50th annual Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale at Woodward Middle School, 9125 Sportsman Club Road, runs June 25 and 26.
June 25 – Rummage sale preview from 4-7 p.m.
June 26 – The rummage sale and silent bid sheets available beginning at 8 a.m. For those who want to get an early start, coffee and breakfast rolls will be available at 7 a.m.
The Rotary club will take donations for materials up until Wednesday, June 23 at 8 p.m. Rotary will accept TVs or computers in any condition for a $5-$55 recycle fee.
The tax-deductible donation of vehicles/boats are also being accepted through June 23. Call Paul at 206-281-8100 or Jay at 206-919-5376 for full details.
