Goodwill Earth Day event focuses on reselling
Apr. 27—Earth Day is every day. That was the takeaway at a sustainability celebration by Goodwill Industries of New Mexico.
Goodwill, city of Albuquerque officials and a reselling business were all featured.
The Friday event included speakers Shauna Kastle, Goodwill Industries of New Mexico CEO and president; Ann Simon, deputy director of the city of Albuquerque's Policy and Sustainability Office; and Ty Blunt, founder of Hammoq, an artificial intelligence-powered resale and recommerce solutions business.
Goodwill Industries of New Mexico sustainability efforts include recycling textiles, shoes, books and metals. The company also doesn't use plastic bags in its stores.
"We have solar panels at our corporate office, we make upgrades whenever and wherever possible with LED lights, environmental controls and anything else you can think of," said Kastle. "We also are moving to all electric forklifts and locking factors. And we're starting our first clean program, which will start in January of next year. And that has to do with teaching individuals on how to install solar panels."
City officials said partnerships are key for sustainability.
The city has partnerships with Little Green Bucket, a waste management service, and composter Soilutions, which turns food scraps from concessions at Explora and Senior Affairs' Casa Kitchen into compost.
"On the neighborhood scale, we're working on composting that our residents can participate in," Simon said. "... It's actually working really well. And we hope to replicate this pilot in lots of other locations around the city."
Simon said the city is excited about its electric-vehicle sharing program, Affordable Mobility Platform. Albuquerque residents can rent electric vehicles, and fees will be determined on a sliding scale. Another city program, the Community Energy Efficiency Development Block Grant, helps low-income families maximize energy efficiency in their home.
"So those with the highest energy burden, those least able to afford their energy bills, we're helping them with new electrical panels, with new insulation, a roof if necessary, windows, doors, that kind of thing," Simon said.
Keynote speaker Ty Blunt spoke about why he started Hammoq and why it is important to donate used items to Goodwill. He said donating to Goodwill is the best option to get those items back into the circular economy.
Blunt said the goal of his company is to get more used clothing in the U.S.
"If we can increase local Goodwill sales by 20%, that's going to make it better and less items sold overseas," Blunt said.
Blunt said his father resold cars, and he started reselling items at age 14, which paid for Blunt's college tuition. He began reselling full time in 2017. He day traded between eBay and Amazon and began to see what problems resellers were experiencing.
"How can we get the right product to the right person, and that's why we started Hammoq in the first place," Blunt said. "Where do your donations go? From your home, it goes to Goodwill. And please know that giving it to Goodwill is the best option to get your items to be reused, dramatically."