







This is Dee Glentworth.





Dee is passionate about keeping things out of the landfill.





She considers herself to be a match maker for second hand items and owners.





She started an organisation called Free For All, in Wellington, New Zealand in 2016. Since then, the concept has grown significantly – from working out of her home, to pop up shops, an online platform and plans to provide her brand as a free franchise to expand her mission further – keeping precious items out of the landfill and finding new homes for them.





“Free for All is focused on reducing waste ultimately lowering the percentage of inappropriate/unnecessary waste in landfill (currently 75% in NZ). This is a solution to a nationwide problem in terms of reducing waste with a fantastic side effect of making household goods available to many who previously could not access them.” (Free for All, 2020)





Dee started this organisation after volunteering for nine years in an op shop in Hawkes Bay and seeing how many items were sent to landfill. “I would see the masses of stuff that got thrown out. And it drove me crazy. They laughed at me when I first started because anything that had a stain that they would be ready to throw away, I’d say “don’t you do that” and put it in my car. I’d soak it, clean it and rehome it,” Dee said. Dee ended up getting a contract with the owner that allowed her to take all items home that were destined for the landfill. She would then clean them or upcycle them, then rehome them. This was a win/win for the op shop since they were sending over 8 cubic metres of waste to the landfill each week because it was unsellable. She was able to find new purposes for these items and her vision continued to grow as time progressed.





When she moved to Wellington she started volunteering at other op-shops and charity providers but soon realised her vision for what was possible was greater than what existed. “I loved what they were doing, but I realised the vision I had of a big warehouse where everything was free wouldn’t be possible in the confines of that organisational structure. As the common New Zealand saying goes, we weren’t rowing our waka in the same direction so I had to move forward with a new plan and Free for All was born,” Dee said.





Starting was difficult. “You can’t start something like this unless you catch crazy. You have to be absolutely, completely and utterly passionate. You can’t do this without knowing it’s your calling. If you’re doing this to feel good about yourself, be liked by the community or just be kind, it’s not enough. The trials and tribulations I’ve had to go through to progress this idea have been so difficult at times,” Dee said. Luckily, there has been a huge shift in people’s feelings about the environment and need for services like Free For All in the last six months, due to climate change being more publicised, and it has made a huge difference. “There have been a lot more young people interested in being part of it and volunteering. Councils are understanding the value of this more from an environmental and social perspective, which has provided more opportunities to secure Council buildings to run free shop events.” Dee said. Free for All have also gotten better at finding ways to cover costs, including the new $3 door charge to help with overheads and negotiating with landlords.





This work is so important and makes a tangible difference in waste diversion. At two events hosted in December 2019 and January 2020, Free for All moved over 110 cubic metres of stock that would have otherwise gone to the landfill. In addition to the environmental value Free for All has provided, there have been significant positive social outcomes. Dee has been able to help a lot of people get back into work. She provides a “work when you can” model for volunteers so there isn’t a set time commitment, which has allowed more people to get involved. “It has helped people have a community and we also love helping give people references for jobs when they’ve worked with us.” Dee said.





Free for All is currently running a pop up shop in Porirua City Centre for the next four weeks to trial their new door charge model with the goal of becoming permanent. This has been sponsored by Porirua City Council’s pop up programme. In terms of next steps Dee said, “my goal is to set up a team that can help mentor others wanting to launch Free for All in their cities because I know this journey is a hard one but the work is so important. With climate pressures becoming more and more of a challenge, I hope more Councils will consider sponsoring these initiatives to help these stores become established in communities across New Zealand, and hopefully internationally too.”





If you’re keen to create a Free for All in your community follow these incremental steps:

1.) Be extremely passionate about waste diversion

2.) Contact Free for All so you can get all the information to get started

3.) Work with your local op shops and community members to source items

4.) Work with your local Council or an enabling landlord to find a location to open a free store or use the Free for All online platform if you prefer to keep it digital

5.) Use an affordable door charge to help pay for overheads if you have a shop

6.) Provide an employment pathway by upskilling volunteers about waste management and providing a reference when they do a good job so there is an incentive for them to participate

7.) Collect data so you know how much waste you’re diverting (Councils and key stakeholders love seeing numbers!)

8.) Tell your friends, share your story and inspire other communities to do it too!





To learn more about Free for All check out their website at www.freeforall.co.nz.