Now! visits National Centre for the Circular Economy in Ireland
Last month, CEO, Michael Ryan visited the Rediscovery Centre in Dublin, Ireland as Now! Charity Group were invited to contribute at the Q1 RREUSE General Assembly. As a leading circular economy social enterprise in Sussex and the largest independent reuse charity in the South East, the Now! Charity Group stands alongside Emmaus (UK) as RREUSE representatives for the UK.
The Rediscovery Centre is a creative movement connecting people, ideas and resources to support greener low-carbon living. As the National Centre for the Circular Economy, the Rediscovery Centre brings together the skills and expertise of artists, scientists, designers and craftspeople united in a common purpose of sustainability. Located in a bespoke demonstration eco-facility, the Rediscovery Centre supports four reuse social enterprises; Rediscover Furniture, Rediscover Fashion, Rediscover Paint and Rediscover Cycling. These businesses use unwanted materials for new product development and design demonstrating effective resource efficiency, reuse and low carbon living.
The Rediscovery Centre is also an accredited training facility for Science and Maths. Their education team offer interactive and experiential workshops for primary, secondary, and third level students which cover wide ranging environmental and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) topics. The Centre’s translational research activities support national waste prevention and climate action policy and advocate for a more resilient and equitable society.
The Rediscovery Centre is located in the repurposed Boiler House in Ballymun. The building has undergone a major green revamp and it is now a state-of-the-art facility with a focus on sustainability and reuse.
The Rediscovery Centre is also home to a unique Eco Store, selling sustainably made products from over 20 independent Irish suppliers and from their own reuse social enterprises.
“Visiting the Rediscovery Centre in Ireland was an inspiring experience, Dublin City Council and the Government of Ireland have truly embraced their work. The RDC is held in the highest regard among the Irish reuse network and it sets a bar for us to aspire towards. In the past 18 months we have educated all Now! Charity personnel to understand the environmental impact our three Furniture Now site’s have on both the circular and social economy. In 2019 Furniture Now! saved 580 tonnes of furniture, WEEE and miscellaneous household items from landfill. This resulted in 135,306 KG of CO2 emissions being saved. We are embracing our responsibility towards lowering the counties carbon footprint and are encouraging all businesses to do the same.”
Michael Ryan, CEO @ Now! Charity Group
