GILBERT, AZ — Joe Anderson is perusing the shelves of the Gilbert Swap Shop, located inside the town’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
He finds something he needs and thanks the employees inside, saying, “Once again you boys bailed me out.”
He's a frequent shopper at the facility located off Greenfield and Queen Creek roads. He stops by “probably once, two, three times a month,” he tells ABC15.
The Swap Shop is a place where one person's trash becomes someone else’s treasure. Dan Henze is the supervisor at the facility and explained the shelves on this day are a little low on inventory.
"These are kind of picked through to be honest. Yeah, usually, it's usually it's a little fuller," he said.
He said a recent social media post about the Swap Shop may have contributed to the busy prior weekend.
He explained that Gilbert residents can come with an ID or their water bill to drop off their hazardous items. Then, Henze says, “We can repurpose it in the Swap Shop or we can get rid of it in our facility."
And while drop-off is only for those in Gilbert, the Swap Shop is for anyone to come through. And there is a lot of variety here. Anderson has found, "weed and feed, paint, spray paint, car stuff for my vehicles."
It's first come, first serve, and there are a lot of items for home upkeep and projects, from bug spray to cleaning supplies. There is a lot of paint as well.
Henze explained that when residents drop off paint, they inspect it, and if it’s still good, they’ll clean it and make the adjustments to the color, so it matches two hues they offer. The options are a tan or a gray and they make five-gallon buckets of it. And there are plenty of buckets for people to grab, all for free.
In fact, Henze says a new homeowner recently came in and was able to freshen up her whole house. He explained, "She took four five-gallon buckets of paint, and she said it turned out amazing. And it cost her $0."
The Swap Shop is open to the public Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Anderson said it’s helped him on many projects, and he’ll keep coming back.
"It's a great place to come," he said. "The employees are great. Everybody takes good care out here."
The Swap Shop is a win-win for the town as well. Because it costs money to properly dispose of these materials, giving these items a chance at a new owner saves the town money, and the materials stay out of the landfills.
IF YOU GO:
Location: 2224 E Queen Creek Rd., Gilbert, AZ 85297
Hours: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 7 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.