Turning “Trash” Into Treasure: NBC5 Tours Waco’s repurposedMATERIALS Warehouse

Video Transcript:

NBC5: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. NBC5’s Katie Blakey takes you inside the Waco Warehouse offering discarded items a second chance.

Katie: Look around while you might see piles of stuff. You see a lot of stuff just thrown away.

Jeremy Moorhead: I see creativity. The customers that come in here are a lot of creative, open-minded people.

Katie: He’s branch manager for repurposedMATERIALS in Waco. The company boasts it’s America’s largest industrial thrift store.

Jeremy: We try to just resell it or find a second home for it.

Katie: Why?

Jeremy: To just take it out of the landfill, honestly. There’s a lot of waste that goes into the landfill. A lot of the stuff can be reused or repurposed.

Katie: The inventory here changes often. Today, though, they have old fire hoses. What about old billboards? They encourage customers to get creative in repurposing this stuff.

Jeremy: We encourage our customers to send us pictures.

Katie: The company’s six locations showcase customer ideas, from totes turned into an outdoor shower to fire hoses woven into furniture. There’s a wall of wine barrels from California vineyards.

People use them as wine holders or furniture. A lot of people in Waco use them to catch rainwater. Discontinued rope from Yeti coolers.

Jeremy: We’ve had a customer that makes them into dog toys.

Katie: And leftover building supplies priced at 50 to 70 percent off. Perfectly good tile. There’s nothing wrong with it. They’re just going to throw it away.

And this one’s the eBay order. An opportunity to turn what some might consider trash into treasure.

Jeremy: Give cheap a chance.

Katie: In Waco, Katie Blakey, NBC5.