CHAPLEAU-BRUNSWICK HOUSE—An agreement has been reached by the Island Waste Resource Partnership Committee (IWRPC) with Sic Sox Circular Ltd. to have bins located in Kagawong that will hold local residents’ unwanted textiles.
“We have been approved for a recycling facility on the Brunswick House First Nation (close to Chapleau) to start shredding textiles,” stated Jerret Paquette who co-owns the company with his mother, Dr. Doris Mitchell. “Our main goal is to divert textiles from landfills and transfer stations and turn them into blow-in house insulation in our plant.”
“We have bins set up in locations from Thunder Bay to North Bay, although at this point we are missing the Sudbury area,” Mr. Paquette told The Expositor. “And once the Manitoulin Island bins are in place, the demand for these bins will increase.”
“By diverting these textiles, these materials can be diverted from our landfills and transfer stations,” said Billings councillor Vince Grogan chair of IWRPC. “It will be beneficial to everyone on the Island. Sic Sox Circular initiative originates in Brunswick House First Nations. Jerret and his mother, who live in Chapleau, launched this project last fall. And we are partnering with them through the committee and Billings township and will be discussing the pros and cons and necessary changes that need to be made to have pick-up bins around the Island. This is all a work in progress.”
“So far, four communities on the Island have shown an interest in this initiative, Central Manitoulin, Gore Bay, Gordon/Barrie Island and Billings,” said Mr. Grogan. “And hopefully after we meet with all the communities and First Nations with the proposal, the bins can be set up in more communities. With this initiative it will not cost the communities or residents anything.”
Mr. Paquette explained that he and his mother, Dr. Doris Mitchell, who still works as a locum occasionally at the Mindemoya Hospital and who has property on Manitoulin Island but lives in Chapleau, came up with the idea.
“We have been working on this for over a year,” said Mr. Paquette. “The idea came to my mother when she was looking in her closet one day and found baskets full of old socks that nobody wanted to wear. She donates a lot of her old clothes and things to the local thrift store. Anyway, she came upon a big bag of old socks. And she said we needed to find a better way to figure out what to do with these types of items.”
“We started the company here, where we actually will pick up textiles at residents’ doors. There will be bins across Northern Ontario, and by the end of February at least a couple on (Manitoulin) the Island and hopefully more soon,” said Mr. Paquette.
Materials including clothing, bedding and pillows, industrial textiles, shoes, handbags and stuffed animal toys can be dropped off in the bins, said Mr. Paquette. He explained, “We will not be shredding clothing and other items that are still usable. We will sell them in our Sic Sox Thrift Store in Chapleau and online. The rest of the materials will be sorted by material and shredded using European-made equipment designed to do this.” These materials will be made into a new type of home insulation.
Any synthetic materials that are not going to be used will be used outside the company’s market. As well, additional textiles will be reused to make a brand of Sic Sox socks and mittens.
It will take at least two or three years for the company to start making a profit, and Mr. Paquette said once they do it, they will donate 10 percent of profits back to programs that support Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and gender equality.
Mr. Paquette said, “And there are some things that we can’t process everything well, like shoes; if we can sell these and other items, okay, but if we can’t, a portion will be donated to homeless shelters.”
“The whole idea is to keep textiles etc. out of landfills and transfer stations and benefit the environment,” said Mr. Paquette.
The bins being used are over five feet tall and three feet wide and are all in the colour pink.
“We do a weekly route to pick up materials in the boxes,” said Mr. Paquette. “That is why we are trying and hopeful of getting as many set up on the Island as we can.”
“Vince (Grogan) had originally got in contact with us,” stated Mr. Paquette. “I was looking to somehow get bins located on Manitoulin. Originally, we were looking at just Little Current but to drive to the Island for materials in one bin wouldn’t make much sense. We are hopeful to have at least 7-10 on the Island.” He lives in Sudbury where he works as a server/bartender at a restaurant and drives back and forth to Chapleau on a regular basis.
“Our thrift store is in Chapleau and the shredding factory will be located on the First Nation (Brunswick House), and it will provide jobs in the community,” said Mr. Paquette.
“There will be no costs associated to municipalities or First Nations who have the boxes located in their community,” said Mr. Paquette. The bins are cleaned out every week.
“Jerret will be part of a delegation at our (Billings council) meeting on February 20 to launch the program,” said Mr. Grogan. Township staff, “is finalizing a letter to request a delegation to all the communities on the Island and the UCCM,” said Mr. Grogan. “We will be launching this program after our council meeting February 20. We are hoping to have a total of at least seven bins located in different communities on the Island, for residents and visitors to use.”
