Repurposed Goods

What a tote becomes
after it’s done being a tote.

Some totes fail our leak test for reuse but are perfectly sound for storage. Instead of recycling them, our bench team turns them into rain barrels, aquaponics tanks, raised beds, and stranger things. Sustainable by accident.

Get a Quote

Same-day reply.

Every form goes straight to a human in Green Bay — no chatbots, no offshore desks. Mon–Fri responses within four working hours.

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Phone *US / Canada · 10 digits · we’ll format it for you

Company

City

State / Province

Postal Code *

Quantity *

Product Type *

Grade

Select Service *

Where did you hear about us?

Message

REPURPOSED 01Rain Barrel Conversions275-gallon retired IBCs reborn as gravity-fed rainwater catchment. Add a downspout adapter, a 3/4" hose bib, and an overflow port and you’ve got more capacity than ten plastic barrels for less than two.See the build REPURPOSED 02Aquaponics Tank KitsIBC cut into a fish tank below + grow bed above, or two stacked grow beds. Pre-cut, food-grade-sourced, ready for a pump. Popular with small-school greenhouses and ag-tech tinkerers.See the build

REPURPOSED 03Off-Grid Water StorageMulti-tote arrays for cabins, farms, and emergency reserve. 1,100 to 4,400 gallon footprints. Pre-plumbed manifolds available.Talk to us

REPURPOSED 04Livestock Water TroughsCut horizontally, the lower half of a 275-gal IBC makes a 110-gal trough that’s lighter, cheaper, and tougher than the steel ones.Ask

REPURPOSED 05Raised Garden BedsCut and split, an IBC makes two 48-inch raised beds with built-in cage trellises. Local pickup only.Ask

REPURPOSED 06Something weirder?Tortoise enclosure. Brewery grain hopper. Mobile dog-wash. Stage prop. We’ve done all of these. Bring drawings.Pitch your build

Why repurposing matters

Lower than recycling on the priority ladder is reuse.

When a tote fails its leak test for reuse as a transport container, the standard industry move is granulation. We push back against that as a default. A tote that can’t safely carry industrial liquids on a truck is often perfectly sound for static storage of water, soil, or fish. Granulating it skips an entire useful life.

Roughly 8% of incoming totes that fail reuse certification end up on the repurposing bench rather than the granulator. That number could be higher and we’re working on it.

2025 REPURPOSING BREAKDOWN

Project	Units	Avg. price
Rain barrels	410	$135
Aquaponics kits	92	$210
Water storage arrays	38	By spec
Raised garden beds	180	$95
Livestock troughs	72	$80
Custom builds	21	By spec

Community programs

Discounted pricing for schools and nonprofits.

PROGRAM 01K–12 STEM grantsReduced-price aquaponics and rain-barrel kits for school garden and ecology programs in northeast Wisconsin. Two build-day visits per year included.Eligibility

PROGRAM 02Community garden grantsFree retired-tote drop-offs for 501(c)(3) community garden programs in Brown, Outagamie, and Kewaunee counties. Pickup options too.Apply

PROGRAM 03Rehab & reentry programsTwo ongoing partnerships with vocational programs at correctional and rehabilitation facilities — we supply, they build, the finished project goes back to their community.Learn more

The ones people ask after their first reply.

Can I buy a retired tote and build my own?

Yes. We sell Grade 3 (rinsed-only) totes specifically for DIY repurposing. Cheaper than a pre-cut kit; you bring the angle grinder.

Are repurposed totes food-safe?

For non-contact storage (water for irrigation, soil for raised beds) yes. For food contact, only if the original tote was food-grade and the modification preserves the food contact rating — we will document that on request.

Do you ship rain barrels?

Local delivery within Brown County is flat-rate. Long-distance shipping rarely makes economic sense — try a regional source.

Can I bring my own drawings?

Yes. Custom builds are a real part of what we do. The bench team has handled everything from a 6-tote brewery grain hopper to a stage prop for a community theater. Email drawings and timeline.

Next step

Build something with a retired tote.

Whether you want it pre-cut and ready, or just want the raw materials — we can help.

Talk about a build →Aquaponics