Free pile tour of Lopez

Submitted by Nikyta Palmisani

The Take It or Leave It has been closed for nearly three months and Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District staff estimates there are 40-70 tons of donations just on Lopez Island alone.

Many households have reported that they used the extra time at home during the pandemic to do deep spring cleaning and have accumulated large piles of donations. The TIOLI plans to re-open in Phase 3, but to help us manage this huge amount of goods, we put together an idea we are calling “Free Pile Tour de Lopez” for the last weekend of June — Saturday and Sunday, June 27-28.

Very similar to the studio tour and home tour, where folks drive a self guided tour following a map, we invite anyone who has donations to create a “free pile” in their driveway. People who have lived in metropolitan areas might already be very familiar with this phenomena of leaving free goods in piles on the curb or at the end of driveways for anyone to take what they wish.

In this case, we are also inviting folks who have large amounts of free goods or want to be featured to send us their address so we can put pins on a downloadable map comprising the “Free Tour of Lopez.” Like familiar mainland days of garage or estate sale hopping, the “Free Pile Tour of Lopez” hopes to be a fun and engaging way for Lopezians to exchange reusable goods.

Everyone should attend to their own level of safety, and not participate if they feel vulnerable in any way. Participants are welcome to bring the level of safety gear they deem appropriate, wear masks, gloves, and bring plastic bags for objects, then take them home to be washed or quarantined.

We hope that you enjoy the “Free Pile Tour of Lopez” in the spirit of reuse that is such a hallmark of Lopez Island culture. If you would like to be added to the map please send your address by June 23 to Nikyta at nikytap@lopezsolidwaste.org or visit www.lopezsolidwaste.org.