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On an unusually hot September day, Launne and Dillon Kolla loaded boxes nearly overflowing with books into the back of their truck.
The pickup, affectionately called Millie by the couple and their three small children, has seen better days. Its silver paint is heavily speckled with rust, and it’s been years since the air conditioning or radio worked.
Though others might opt for a replacement, the Kollas are committed to making the most of Millie’s remaining miles.
“Our family motto is ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!'” Launne laughed. “We use what we have.”
The couple is committed to making the most out of every item they bring into their home and ensuring that anything no longer usable is properly recycled. It’s the foundation of their business, Reroute, which helps others do the same.
In just three months, Reroute has diverted 4,861 pounds of waste from the Saskatoon landfill. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
Launne has been passionate about recycling for as long as she can remember.
“I’ve always been into helping the planet and like trying to change the world in my own little way that I can,” she said. “There’s lots of ways to be more sustainable and reduce waste. Getting rid of your waste properly is one of them.”
As Launne educated herself on proper ways to dispose of items her family no longer needed, she noticed a concerning practice taking place — ‘wishcycling.’
“Wishcycling is when you don’t really know if something can be recycled, say like a Swiffer mop,” she explained. ‘You’re like ‘Oh, it’s plastic. I don’t know if the city recycles it,’ but you throw it in your bin anyways. You’re just wishing and hoping.”
In reality, many of the items tossed in blue recycling bins around the city each week aren’t recyclable. A city-wide Waste Characterization Study conducted for the City of Saskatoon showed that in the spring of 2024, 14 per cent of the items in blue bins were considered contaminated. When non-recyclable items get mixed in, it makes it hard, or even impossible, to recycle the items that could be recycled. As a result, more waste ends up in landfills.
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Launne Kolla said she has been passionate about recycling for as long as she can remember. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
While most people have good intentions when it comes to recycling, Launne said many lack the time or resources to thoroughly research how to properly dispose of items they no longer need. To address this, she started sharing recycling tips and tricks on her Instagram page, and quickly became a trusted resource for straightforward, practical recycling advice.
“People always ask me ‘Launne, is there a place I can take this?'” she said. “People kind of trust that I’ll know, or if I don’t know I’ll look it up for them. So we have a pretty wide knowledge base of where stuff goes and what programs are out there.”
Helping others navigate the guesswork related to recycling inspired Launne and Dillon to create Reroute — a curbside pickup service with the goal of diverting waste from the landfill and delivering donations directly to the people who need them the most.
Listen to Brittany Caffet talk to Launne and Dillon Kolla about Reroute.
Launne Kolla said that while most people have good intentions when it comes to recycling, many lack the time or resources to thoroughly research how to properly dispose of items they no longer need. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
“It’s not a foreign idea for people to have something picked up from your house or delivered,” Dillon explained when asked about the inspiration behind the recycling pickup service. “Why not have someone come to your house, pick up your waste, take it to the proper place and make it more convenient and easy for you?”
While they have only been rerouting other people’s discarded items for a few months, Launne and Dillon have already made an incredible impact.
“We keep track of everything that everyone is giving us, and then we weigh it when we get home,” Launne said. “We’ve already diverted 4,861 pounds of waste from the Saskatoon landfill. It’s pretty cool to see.”
Launne Kolla said one of the most rewarding parts of running Reroute is ensuring these items land in the hands of someone who will put them to good use instead of in the landfill. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
Launne said they deal with a diverse group of customers.
“Whether it’s families, seniors, people that don’t have storage, people that are just busy… We actually just had a rural school call us to reroute electronics, batteries, donations, and stuff that’s sat in their lost and found forever,” she said.
From used toys to eyeglasses to household hazardous waste, they’ve found an avenue to recycle or donate nearly every item their customers are ready to remove from their homes. While most items are fairly straightforward to reroute, they have been presented with the occasional challenge.
“Someone gave us like two big jugs of used cooking oil,” Dillon said. “We had to research to figure that one out. We found this place in the north end, it’s like a rendering plant. They have this big bin, so we just like showed up and dumped them out in this big bin. That was a weird one!” he laughed.
Launne said one of the most rewarding part of running the business is ensuring that the items land in the hands of someone who will put them to good use.
“We had someone give a ton of hockey sticks and uniforms from an old sports team,” she said.
After picking up the donation, Launne said she searched for charities which could make use of the equipment until she found the perfect fit.
“EGADZ deals with at-risk youth, and they were like ‘We would love hockey sticks and jerseys for the kids!'” she said. Her eyes sparkled with pride at the thought of these items being given to children who would cherish them, rather than ending up buried in a landfill.
In just a matter of hours Dillon and Launne Kolla loaded 374.8 pounds of donations and recyclables into the back of their trusty pickup. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
As the sun sets on another successful day of rerouting, a sense of accomplishment settles over Launne and Dillon as they load up their trusty pickup Millie with hundreds of pounds of donations and recyclables.
Their tireless efforts prove that with dedication and resourcefulness, it’s possible to achieve Launne’s childhood dream of helping the planet and trying to change the world — one reroute at a time.
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