Today nine international students from the YRE program visited a second hand store in Cascais, Portugal. The students had the opportunity to interview Luis Domingues, an administrator that works with REMAR, to investigate environmental solutions. As well, they received a second opinion from Rui, an employee of the second hand store that shared his experience.
The second hand store REMAR is a charitable Christian organization that raises fund to help special groups of people such as drug addicts, people in poverty or alcoholics. The organization uses the funds from the second hand store to provide basic necessities and shelters for the 500 inhabitant at their residence in Portugal. However, the organization is present in 80 countries around the world, a total of 75, 000 people living in REMAR centers.
The second hand store gets a majority of their products from donations of a variety of unwanted items as well as shipments from international stores that can no longer sell a particular item. This acts as a way of recycling the products and preventing them from ending up in landfill because still can be of use to other people. As well, by recycling the furniture a second time there is less of a demand for new furniture therefore less production is occur thus les natural resources are being consumed However, the shipments from other countries requires transportation and fuel consumption therefore polluting the environment .
The REMAR program works in three stages , the first stage including farm life where residence have the opportunity to participate in a variety of small tasks and form a common routine. The students were curious to know how they have made environmental improvement on the farming facilities. The public relations representative , Luis said that originally the farms used gas bottle that has to constantly be refilled , which was an added coast as well as a high rate of fuel consumption. The farm eventually found a solution commonly known as pellets which is a made from biological materials which are then burned. The results of the burning the pellets creates heat energy which then can be used for daily necessities and energy. This system has provided a good alternative to coal as it does not produce any carbon dioxide as well it much more cost effective.
In addition, Luis explained that he has implemented solar panels on a few of the farms in other countries to allow them to be self sufficient and provide an alternative to fuel. As well, in the farming community of stage one they try to be conscious of their actions to minimize waste of electricity such as wash multiple peoples clothing together or even simple habits such as turning of the light when it is not needed.
However this organization main focus is on the social aspect specifically the idea of a social economy. As Luis shared his rehabilitating experience with REMAR as drug addict , he attested that REMAR is a very welcoming community that provides support to help people develop useable skills to support themselves. The organization aims to create self- serving environments in each country with a REMAR second hand store.
Although this a valuable solution there is the issue that REMAR,s plan or stores are not well recognized by all citizens. To have a greater impact in the future Richard O’ Sullivan, founder of the surf rider foundation in Europe says that it is vital to bring awareness to the second hand stores in order to reach more people and therefore recycle more effectively.
In conclusion, the second hand store presents an interesting approach to the idea of recycling however the vigilance of the system can be improved for maximum success.
Group 5: Jasin, Orlando, Patricia, Nadica, Isbella, Yonca, Aziz, Vlad, and Krista.
You must be logged in to post a comment.