{"id":55712,"date":"2025-10-05T01:57:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T01:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/55712\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T01:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T01:57:13","slug":"yks-downtown-pop-up-recycling-centre-hailed-as-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/55712\/","title":{"rendered":"YK\u2019s downtown pop-up recycling centre hailed as success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yellowknife\u2019s downtown pop-up recycling shop has successfully wrapped up its first full summer and its organizer has big plans for the year ahead.<\/p>\n

Jane Ann Swim, owner of Yellowknife\u2019s Bottle Shop, said the pop-up began slowly but quickly gained traction as word spread. <\/p>\n

By late summer, Swin said, the shop was drawing 50 to 60 visitors a day and even processed more than 10,600 containers in one busy week.<\/p>\n

Swim said the main reason to start the initiative \u2013 which began on a trial basis late last summer, officially launched this May and ran until October 1 \u2013 was to offer an accessible location to drop off milk cartons, plastic bottles and other recyclables in the city\u2019s downtown area, near Somba K\u2019e Park.<\/p>\n

Yellowknife already has a year-round uptown recycling depot on Old Airport Road.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe were super happy to have the downtown pop-up shop running [and] support people who couldn\u2019t get to the Old Airport Road location,\u201d Swim told Cabin Radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the people that came downtown were extremely grateful that we were able to offer them a location that was more accessible. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many people who don\u2019t drive. My goal was to be able to provide a service for people who have mobility restrictions or also for people who are over-stimulated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JaneJane Ann Swim and family outside The Bottle Shop. Photo: Submitted<\/p>\n

Swim said the bottle depot can be noisy and sometimes have an odor, which can be difficult for people with sensory sensitivities. By contrast, she said the downtown location is a \u201cmuch more pleasant experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe had a lot of people that would throughout the summer make a day of bringing their containers and then having their kids play at the playground,\u201d she said. \u201cThat was a really great experience for them, to be able to do two things at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swim said the shop also became an opportunity for the city\u2019s vulnerable population to earn some money. Her favourite part was seeing how people online appreciated the convenience the pop-up shop offered to those who needed it most.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind-of warmed my heart the most was it wasn\u2019t just that people were using it,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople were acknowledging and grateful, and taking the time to make a comment on Facebook that they were grateful we were doing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like the whole community appreciated that we were doing the service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A banner at the downtown pop-up bottle shop. Aastha Sethi\/Cabin Radio<\/p>\n

In total, Swim believes the downtown bottle shop had more than 1,000 visits this season \u2013 many from the same people, week after week.<\/p>\n

The plan for next year is to set up the shop at the same location.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, she hopes to find a heated indoor space to run a similar recycling shop during the winter. She is contacting the Salvation Army, local churches and other organizations to see if any locations are available for a few hours each week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a lot of people that didn\u2019t know that we were offering the service,\u201d she said, adding the shop would need a bit more advertising.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs far as indoors in winter, I\u2019m still working on it, but it\u2019s a bit of a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristopher Wendehorst, a worker at the shop, said people alternated through shifts of two so everyone had a chance to help out. He said the downtown shop is far less busy compared to the one in uptown.<\/p>\n

Wendehorst said locals usually bring $5-$20 worth of containers. Even on a slow day, he said the team would make at least 20 transactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a decent amount. There\u2019s some days we run out of the cash we have on the float, but those are the busier days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt tends to be a bit less busy than the [uptown] shop so we get a little bit of a break from the madness of the Bottle Shop. But it is nice that we get to talk to people and help them out with their bottles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get to talk to people, help people and be involved with the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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