Resource Central: Reuse & Conservation 80303

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Courtney Brillhart

I absolutely love what Resource Central does, especially the Garden in a Box program. Yes, the plants are young and small (as mentioned by other reviewers) and yes, there may be plant substitutions, which you are made aware of ahead of time (pointed out by another reviewer) and yes, they will take a few seasons to establish (which is expected – the photos are of what the garden will look like when it matures). The plants are a steal based on what you pay for and the variation is hand-picked for you. Such a huge time saver! Last year, we purchased the largest Garden in a Box available to replace an entire side of our front yard. There were 50 plants and nearly all of them survived their first winter. We had to replace a few plants, but that's it! they are doing amazingly well and thriving. We purchased another smaller Garden in a Box this year for the front part of the other side of our front yard, and they are doing great as well (except for some rabbit and squirrel damage – we purchased some natural repellant which seems to be working). All in all, this organization is doing GREAT things and I tell everyone about it. I absolutely love the brochures they put together on the different plants, how to care for them, and what to expect. Also, the "color by number" charts on how to organize the plants is a huge help. Their customer service is attentive and super nice as well. Highly recommend!

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Megan Martorano

I've bought three garden in boxes and absolutely love them. The plants may be small at the start but they are excellent quality, harder to source native/low water plants and have done really well as they continue to grow. It's so much easier than making a landscaping plan and sourcing every plant individually. I also really like how they include plants that bloom throughout the season. I will definitely be purchasing another as I continue to slowly replace the lawn with flowers :)

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Rachel Courtney

There are lots of tools and building materials here. If you are doing a project in your home, I highly recommend looking here for materials first. There were sets of 18 cabinets and lots of single pieces.

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Suzanne Matthews

The experience of xeriscaping our front yard was so much easier than we anticipated. Resource Central guided our project every step of the way. We did the work ouselves, (we are over 70) and are totally pleased with the results. Their plants were inexpensive and very high quality.

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Maribeth Waldrep

I have now purchased “Garden in a Box” products for two growing seasons. The designs and plants are amazing, and both the communication and resources offered are great. I love their mission and tell everyone I know about them. Thank you for my beautiful waterwise garden!

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Kimber Girlee

I bought the Bees and Blooms kit. I was highly impressed with the outcome! I'm considering doing my backyard next.

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Allison Johnson

The best way to beautify your yard without breaking the bank! The plant by numbers design is brilliant.

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Chris Lorenz

Resource is awesome! Twice when I have replaced wood decks with composite material I wanted to give Resource the old decking boards that were still in good shape. The problem is, I don't have a vehicle to transport the old lumber to Resource. I simply scheduled with them to come out and they come and pick it up. What a great way to make sure that usable materials are getting reused, and making it so easy for the homeowner to get it done! Thank you so much!!!

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Marian Weaver

I cannot stress enough how wonderful this organization is! I moved here from the East Coast and had no idea where to start on replacing my lawn. In one season I went from 100% lawn to 30%, saving over 65% on my water bill. I’m finally seeing butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and all the rest of the lovely insects! Everyone I’ve come in contact with was super helpful, kind, and knowledgeable. I plan to volunteer for the next season!

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Philip Smith

I used to love this place. They often have useful items. Therefore, I didn't just give them one star as well as my initial impulse. OTOH, This place is awful for people with disabilities. I am disabled and have a hard time getting around. One young man in the yard was super nice and very helpful, as far as helping me unload my donation. There's another person who was very unkind and very unwilling to accommodate my desire to park close to the product I wanted to look at. Ill temper aside the fact is the rules are: There's no parking for people with a handicap placard in the yard (there is no parking at all in the yard, which is super weird...but I digress), meaning those people have to walk from the parking area by the main building wherever they need to go in the yard or the warehouse, which is fine for able-bodied people. But if somebody has a hard time walking that is unfortunate. Home Depot is easier, more kind, more accommodating for pwd

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Judi Dressler

I received and just planted two "Gardens in a Box" - 60 plants in all. They are all well and thriving so far; I'm happy to report! I have been thrilled with the program - all Colorado native plants and selected for my shady back yard -- I didn't have to do anything but plant them. The plants all were healthy and Resource Central staff were happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Resource Cental for a great program!

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holly mcclintock

Resource Central’s Garden in a Box program has made xeriscaping a large yard at a reasonable cost possible. The selection of gardens from full sun to shade offer options for all areas. The gardens are easy to plant, care for, and it’s exciting to watch them mature and bloom. Many of my plants have even been divided and used to fill in other areas of my yard. I highly recommend Garden in a Box!

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Theresa Murphy

Their garden in a box program has brought us such Joy. They are so easy to order and plant and care for. Plus they grow and are absolutely beautiful. They truly are as easy as advertised. Our neighbors are so impressed that we have managed to get flowers to grow.

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Tracy Bond

Their lawn removal service was great! I had my name on a wait-list, they called when they had an upcoming cancellation. I decided to go for it. SO GLAD I DID! It was just the motivation I needed to get the water-wise, bee friendly garden with so much curb appeal I needed. I still had lots of work to do myself, but it was worth it. I also opted for the "Rocky Mountain Retreat" - *Garden in a box" adding drought tolerant plants to my full sun area. I did add a few others as well. If they survive the winter, then this is going to look AWESOME in a couple years! <3 I have the patience. :)

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Meredith Giersch

love that i can trust that my "garden in a box" has plants that are already vetted to be low water and good for the local environment. and i love instructions they provide around placement, water needs and expectations for growth. takes the guess work out of the process. and all three of our "boxes" have thrived

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Cristie Haney

I love how easy the process has been! They connected me with a service to remove my front lawn, and instructions that came with my Garden in a Box were excellent. I planted 2 boxes (60 plants) 2 months ago and all are thriving and growing. But most of all, I’m thankful they made it so easy to lower water waste on non-native grass!

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Lauren Howe

We have purchased four gardens in a box over the last few years and have been super happy with the results! They make it so easy. Highly recommend!

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Nicole Simoes

A local legend, they've won a customer for life! I love everything about this organization, especially what it does for local communities. I learned about them from their partnership w the Thornton H2O overhaul project. They have amazing tool sales every season. Please donate your used tools!

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Michele DeYoung

Edit: we all have those days...they reached out wanted to make things right and I felt heard. I remember this place when it was called Resource 2000. I’ve been shopping here for clearly a long time, also been donating here for as long. The staff needs to be trained how to communicate with customers. So rude. And it would’ve been so easy to communicate the same message without any snarkiness, rudeness or bad language.

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Stefanie Wagner

Resource Central offers some great programs that help you save water and learn more about gardening. We used their lawn removal program for our front yard and planted part of it with their garden in a box program. So far we are very happy with the results.

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James U

Most times I have visited Resource, I would give them 6 stars. A few times I would give them 0 stars. Overall I value this place, but there are some big negatives in some of my experiences here. I'll try to be fair and objective and point out the issues while suggesting some improvements. 1. Buying items here is a big money saver. Be careful if you need to keep your big purchase here with a "sold" sticker on it (even in the "sold repository"). Make sure you come back to get it as soon as you can. I've had nice cabinets and an arbor press accidentally sold "again" out from under me before I could come pick them up. 2. Donations are the trickiest part of dealing with Resource. Resource does not give upfront and clear instructions on how to donate. Here's what happened the last time I brought in some high-value items to donate: I called ahead to verify that they would take 7 custom kitchen cabinets I had. This was a full pickup load. When I pulled into the donations lane, I was curtly admonished by an employee (before I could even say "hi") that they will not take my cabinets because I had removed the doors and they were apparently incomplete. For the record, I had removed the doors so I could fit them all in one load to save on 30 mile round-trips to Boulder. All doors were present and I told the employee I could pop the doors back on if they would help me unload the cabinets. Each door takes 20 seconds or less to snap back on. Unloading, rearranging and reloading big cabinets solo is dangerous and time-consuming. This employee again curtly advised me that I could do just that -- leave the premises (actually said, "Go out the entry gate or into the big dirt lot next door") unload everything myself, reinstall the doors, and haul them back to donations a few at a time with said doors installed. Absolutely no assistance would be provided. I'll let the reader decide what was reasonable here. To be fair, after complaining to upper management, I was kindly told the employee was in error and that it would be addressed. That said, there apparently is a policy regarding "complete" items only for donation, but it is not stated anywhere and is up to interpretation, which easily leads to problems. Resource, please POST critical donations instructions on your website, as phone instructions, on big clear signs BEFORE somebody goes to the effort to donate and is told when they pull into the donations lane that their items are rejected for sometimes obscure and subjective reasons. I've talked to many people with the same complaint. Habitat Restore does a MUCH better job of this. 3. Changing policies without notice or communication. For over ten years, Resource had a loyalty policy in which a customer could get a 20% discount on any purchase if they spent $1000 in preceding purchases. This $1k accrues over time, and then you can uses the reward. In Summer/Fall of '23, they suddenly changed the policy without notice so a new computer system could be adopted. Many people who did not have a receipt from the previous loyalty program stating their 20% reward lost it because management neglected to inform customers, nor did they preserve previous system records. Another example of a surprise policy change was that Resource had a 14-day return and full refund period for as long as I could remember. Without notice it changed to 7 days. I was burned by this and was not allowed to return a decently expensive purchase I had for less than 14 days, but more than 7. No grace, no exceptions. I ended up having to donate the items back to Resource because I did not have a use for them. Overall, I strongly believe that Resource is an excellent place with unique items and dedicated staff. There are a few weak spots that can quickly turn into big issues though. To remedy many of these issues, I think clear communication from management about policies would save staff and customers serious trouble time and time again.

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Annie Harrington

Great resource and appreciate that they pick up your donation furniture for free.

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Wonderlust

People complaining about prices don't seem to have looked at the price of building materials since 1995, and the few times I have found items that were priced unusually high, speaking with management staff was all it took to find something more agreeable. Further, I don't understand why people expect this place to give them more than 10-20% off a brand-new still-in-box item like the facility doesn't have bills and employees to pay. Speaking of employees, the staff here are unbelievably helpful. If you have a remodel, construction, or art project, this should be your first stop! Where else can you find 350 watt solar panels for $75?

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Vegas ENIAC

Used them for lawn removal and they were great. Very flexible and did a great job. A tiny bit hard to get a hold of them on the phone. Do make sure to keep an eye out for scheduling emails and pay close attention to removal dates. My one suggestion is that it was confusing and hard to coordinate lawn removal with the spring Garden in a Box.

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Donald Seigler

I scheduled a Stop the Flow evaluation for this morning on my sprinkler system. When the tech came out and started to check my schedule, he broke the dial on my sprinkler control clock. The organization will not take responsibility for fixing the damage. I'm surprised that a company with 30,000 customers helped and supposedly known for great customer service spent 20 minutes from an office that it was a pre-existing problem, and then said I signed a waiver (I signed nothing) that exempts them from damaging my unit without any responsibility to fix it. I would highly recommend not using their service as they send out young, inexperienced techs that may break your system and then they will weasel out of taking any responsibility for the damage. Do business with these people at your own risk!

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Andrew Rapp

Good selection of items for any sort of home improvement, I have been able to find materials for many projects here that would have been much more expensive elsewhere. The staff is very friendly and helpful, they even helped me and my mom jump our car when the battery died!

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Eric May

Resource is my Happy Place! As an artist and custom furniture builder, Resource is like being a kid in a candy store. ...where all the candy is awesome, and really cheap. The Walnut Monster Desk was 90% reclaimed materials from Resource.

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Molly Trujillo

Fast and efficient removal of sod for pollinator garden conversion. Three people removed almost 600 sf in about an hour and a half. Recommend to try to get on their schedule a few months out.

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Charles James Mitchell

This is my go-to for construction and building materials and other miscellaneous items — they offer a stellar selection and great pricing and keep tons of useful items out of the landfill!

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Jason Mathis

I love the idea of this place. I have found some good deals and donated quite a few items over the years. Although on multiple occasions I have had workers on the donation line snap at me for the items I brought to donate. One worker in a condescending tone said, “we are not a junk yard.” Recently I went there on a day no one was around, I thought maybe on lunch or something. I sat for a minute and then opened my trunk when around the corner came a dude yelling aggressively and took a photo of my car and said he was calling the police for illegal dumping! The dude was unhinged, pretending he on the phone with the police before even listening to me. I emailed them about the situation but they didn’t respond. Please treat your community better, we are dropping off items to be reused and sold. I will be taking my donations elsewhere so I don’t get yelled at or arrested for false accusations!