It’s been a very exciting and busy Fall for us at Re-Matt. This week has been extra special because we signed on to recycle mattresses for another university’s dormitories! We are honored to announce that we have teamed up with Mount Royal University and their Residence Services department.
MRU was keen to start mattress recycling as the university already participates in many environmentally friendly practices. In fact, MRU actually has a Green Team on campus who’s vision is to promote environmental awareness and action within their community.
The Green Team is a volunteer task force and was started amongst the faculty in 2007. They work to encourage and increase green behavior for staff and students. The Green Team’s resume includes garage sales, book exchanges, collection bins for clothing, jackets and eyeglasses, cellphone recycling, various Earth Day activities and initiatives and a large list of green events throughout the year. This team has been busy and now they will be adding mattress recycling to their long list of green accomplishments.
Working with MRU to recycle their residences' used mattresses is very near and dear to Re-Matt’s heart. Re-Matt’s Founder / Director, Shawn Cable, is a proud MRU alumni and was actually a student at MRU when he came up with the idea of starting a mattress recycling business. As some may know, Shawn played professional lacrosse for many years. After retiring from lacrosse, he was looking for his next challenge and decided to continue his post-secondary education by enrolling in a Supply-Chain Management program at MRU.
During an Inventory and Warehouse Management course, the class took a trip to the Sears Distribution Warehouse. During the tour, Shawn realized there were no facilities available in Alberta for companies and individuals to dispose of used mattresses. After discussions with operators from the warehouse, it became clear that the only options were to ship mattresses out of province, take to local landfill / transfer sites or to dump illegally. Afterwards, Shawn spent the next several months researching the business of mattress recycling leading to the birth of Re-Matt.
Shawn is extremely grateful for the education and opportunities that came from his time at MRU and is thrilled to begin a sustainable partnership to keep used mattresses out of our landfills.
To read more about MRU’s Green Team, check out:
http://www.mtroyal.ca/ProgramsCourses/ContinuingEducation/green/index.htm
