ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Ashley Case is organizing clothes, home goods, toys and all types of donations at the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Community Center in Asheville.

What You Need To Know

  • Asheville is taking a unique approach to reducing waste this holiday season

  • The Sustainability Advisory Committee hosted its first Holiday Free Store earlier this month. Here’s how it works: People donate just about any item, then others can shop for those items

  • Its goal was to help cut down on the amount of items filling landfills 

She’s the brains behind the first Holiday Free Store this year, where anyone can drop off donations and take other items home this holiday season for free. 

“Obviously it’s friendly on people’s wallets, which is great, but we also want to reduce waste around the holiday season and mass consumption of goods,” Case said.

The UNC Asheville environmental science professor says waste reduction is one of her personal goals year-round. 

“Everybody likes to get new stuff, and new stuff already has a huge environmental impact and so by being able to cycle our stuff in the community, not only promotes community, but also we’re able to share our resources,” Case said. 

Case says this event isn’t just for those in need but for everyone to reduce waste and consumption.

“We fill up our kid’s stockings everywhere, no matter what income class you’re in with all of these little pieces of plastic. Let’s trade out little pieces of plastic, so that we’re not consuming them,” Case said. 

She hopes that eventually, they can expand this event.

“Maybe we want to think about it being a seasonal event to be able to rotate out your seasonal clothes and to pass things on,” Case said. 

More than 200 people showed up to the Holiday Free Store, and the leftover items were donated to several nonprofits in Asheville.