The Scrap Exchange offers free classes, deals on re-purposed items

The business of re-use and re-purposing is booming these days, but, for The Scrap Exchange in Durham, it's been a way of life since 1991.

"So, it's our language and our world we live in, re-purposing and recycling these materials," explained Scrap Exchange Executive Dir. Ann Woodward.

"We are a creative reuse center," Woodward said. "We defer about a 100 tons of solid waste from going to a landfill."

"We also have an educational design center on site, a make and take room, we also do classes," she said.

We also have a retail component to it where you can come here and buy inexpensive materials at low cost," she continued. "We put out materials and new items every single day and we also price the items at 50-75 percent off retail."

And, as schools get ready to open the doors for a new year, The Scrap Exchange is very popular with teachers.

"If you're a teacher and you want to come in and get materials for your classroom, and you want to come and buy a bag of stuff so you can take it back to the classroom and do a curriculum based activity with the materials, it's very affordable," Woodward said.

The Scrap Exchange also puts on 150 classes and workshops throughout the year. Some are free including a free community sewing class every 2nd Sunday from 2-6pm, a free community skill building program the 4th Sunday of every month, and a free make and take every 3rd Friday from 6-9 p.m.

The Scrap Exchange is a non-profit, so all donations are tax deductible and can be dropped off on site. There is a flea market on site every Saturday through October from 8am-noon and it is open for vendors for a small fee.

For more information on The Scrap Exchange click HERE.