The ReStore can help outfit your DIY Overlanding Dream Vehicle.
Overlanding means driving to remote locations, often with no water or even pit toilets, and camping (responsively, of course - meaning you take out ALL of your waste). Overlanding has always been popular in the USA, but during the pandemic, its popularity sky rocketed. Sales of ready-made camping trailers soared, but so did people making their own teardrop and square drop trailers, or retrofitting vans and metal trailers as campers.
Michael and Rebecca Roth have traveled the states over weeks-long vacations as well as weekend getaways in “Little Red,” their teardrop camper outfitted with finds from ReStores. Michael’s dad, Arnie, headed up the project. “He built everything from the frame to the interior, with several key pieces in the galley coming from the Habitat La Crosse Area ReStore in Wisconsin and Two Rivers Habitat’s Rochester Area ReStore in Minnesota,” said Rebecca, in this story on the Habitat for Humanity web site celebrating 30 years of ReStores in 2021 (the first ReStore was launched in Canada in 1991).
The ReStore items the Roths purchased for their teardrop trailer — including a three-drawer bathroom cabinet that now serves as kitchen storage, the sink and countertops — helped keep costs for the renovation low, helped keep items out of landfills and further helped the environment because it meant not having yet more items shipped from afar. It also means their teardrop doesn’t look like any other: uniqueness is something most DIY camper builders strive for.
The Forest Grove ReStore often has many of the items you might need for your own tear drop or square drop camping build, or your own camping van conversion, including:
sinks
small drawers
camping stoves
cookware
trays
wood for constructing cabinets, shelves, the bed frame, under-bed storage bins and more
ready-to-use plastic, wooden or wicker bins
tarps
lighting
We also sometimes have special finds, like a never-out-of-the-box, brand new camping toilet.
We also have a range of camping supplies, including tents, chairs, lanterns and more.
It’s worth noting that, in the case of the Roth Family, Habitat for Humanity is a cause the whole family gets behind.
“I’ve done a teacher build with Habitat in Tennessee, and my father-in-law and mother-in-law completed one in Nepal,” Rebecca says. “Now, a lot of what they use for remodeling projects come from the ReStore.”
If you have built or renovated something using items from the Forest Grove ReStore, we want to hear about it! Send your photos and your story to marketing@westtualityhabitat.org and we may use your information in a blog here on our web site!
The Forest Grove ReStore is open Mondays through Saturdays, 9 to 5. Sales benefit the programs of West Tuality Habitat for Humanity.
