Recycling Building Materials Greens Up Home Improvement & Construction

Jon Popham July 20, 2008 | 12:49 pm EST

Fact: OVER ONE HALF of the solid waste produced in the United States comes from construction and demolition debris. What’s worse is that much of these materials are perfectly usable and as good, or in many cases better, than new materials available on the market today.

Ever drive by a beautiful old Victorian home and wonder how they used to make such fantastic buildings? Those same materials, complete with great style elements of past generations of construction can be a part of your own home by using green architectural salvage services like Community Forklift in the Washington D.C. area. Along with The Loading Dock, a non-profit building materials reuse center in nearby Baltimore, MD, Community Forklift is bringing green alternatives to the enormous waste and consumption rampant in the home building and improvement sectors by offering affordable, re-used materials to the public.

You can takepart by logging onto the website of Community Forklift or The Loading Dock to see how these green services are helping reduce both solid waste and consumption of construction.

LINKS:
Bay Weekly: In With the Old

Washington Post: When a Sale Won’t Work Call a Pro

Rebuilding Together: Can we donate our surplus building supplies?