Did you know that over 33M umbrella sales are made per year in North America alone? Vancouver, also known as Raincouver, is known to eat up our umbrellas with its’ strong winds and excessive rain. This often leaves people with a broken umbrella in hand with nowhere to recycle it. Imagine the number of umbrellas that have been broken and disposed onto the landfill!
At UmbraCity, one of our core values is sustainability; we aim to minimize this umbrella-caused landfill pollution through our sharing service. UmbraCity would like to thank you for joining us in our mission!
Though our umbrellas are sturdy and wind-proof, they may still break under extreme weather conditions. But fear not! We now offer an alternative, eco-friendly option to umbrella disposal. We are launching umbrella-only recycling bins conveniently located next to our kiosks where anyone and everyone at UBC can dispose their broken umbrellas at (not just UmbraCity’s). You can always pick up one of our umbrellas after recycling your broken one with us!
How are we recycling/upcycling these umbrellas?
Umbrellas are made of various parts including fibreglass, aluminium, fabric and more. We will collect and take the umbrellas apart, then recycle them separately at different facilities.
We have great pleasure of upcycling our umbrellas with non-profit organisations such as Common Thread. Common Thread is a social enterprise that creates jobs for people with barriers to employment. They recycle materials such as our umbrella parts, turning them into different reusable products! By recycling your umbrella, you are not only helping the environment, but are also creating jobs for people in need.
Our belief in corporate social responsibility drives our every action in adding value to the community and the environment. We are always on a lookout for organizations we can team up with to help our community! Please contact us at support@umbracity.com for any enquiries.