By Adele Levine | Photos by Penny Leffert
Tucked into the far-left corner of the Becket Transfer Station sits a new little red building. As of August 1, it’s the Becket Swap Shop — and already one of the more talked-about additions to town. The idea for the Swap Shop originated with Town Administrator Kathe Warden, funded by a MassDEP recycling program grant she first worked with while serving the town of Hinsdale. The grants support community-driven initiatives that keep reusable household items in circulation instead of the waste stream.
After meeting with Warden, Becket residents Crispina ffrench and Mary Canty volunteered to coordinate the project, rounding up a group of volunteers to staff it. The shop officially opened August 1 and now operates Tuesdays and Saturdays, 10 am to 4 pm.
The idea is simple: it is a place to drop off items no longer needed and pick up ones that are, keeping usable goods out of the landfill. But for ffrench, it’s about more than reuse — it’s a way to bring neighbors together at a time when so much pulls people apart. “After all, everybody throws things away,” she says, “and everyone enjoys finding a treasure. We all can agree on that.”
The early numbers back that up. In just the first two weeks, the Swap Shop kept over 2,100 pounds of objects out of the landfill — a meaningful dent, since the town of Becket pays by the pound to have trash hauled away. A new parking area near the shop lets visitors stop in without disrupting traffic at the transfer station.
Volunteers check in all donations, accepting clean, working items — though an antique lamp in need of rewiring was quickly re-homed anyway. What’s accepted varies by volunteer discretion, storage space, and current selection. The transfer station charges for bulky items and electronics whether they’re tossed in the dumpster or dropped at the Swap Shop, covering the cost if unclaimed donations eventually have to be discarded.
Smaller items fill the shelves inside and larger goods like furniture and outdoor sporting equipment sit outside, so anything that could be ruined by rain shouldn’t be dropped off late in the day or ahead of wet weather. With storage limited, most unclaimed outside items are discarded by day’s end.
Some things are off the table entirely: anything already barred from the transfer station, including mattresses, box springs, and hazardous waste, plus food items. Car seats and bike helmets are also turned away, since damage isn’t always visible.
A bulletin board inside adds another layer to the exchange, letting residents post what they’re hoping to find — or list bigger items, like a sofa too large to haul over, that they’d like to give away without bringing it in themselves.
The Swap Shop closes in bad weather, and how late into the season it stays open hasn’t been decided. Organizers are considering seasonal donation days — a Christmas item exchange or drop-off days for winter sports gear and spring gardening supplies. New signage, and possibly a site map, will also go up soon around the transfer station, showing where to take items the Swap Shop can’t accept.
For more information or to volunteer for at least four hours a month, email BecketSwapShop@gmail.com.
