The Reuse People: Salvaging Building “Waste”
Every now and again, something really cool crosses my desk, and I think, “Wow, that’s really cool!” Just such an occasion happened this week, when a friend who works in PR sent over some information from The Reuse People of America, or TRP.
Based in Oakland, TRP is a nonprofit organization that works to reduce the amount of useable construction materials that go into landfills. Since its founding in 1993, TRP has salvaged over 200,000 tons of reusable building materials. The resulting resources are sold to the public, or are donated to a variety of worthy causes, including Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill Industries.
Though the materials can come from a variety of sources, over 90% come from TRP’s own demolition services. In demolition projects, TRP acts like any other contractor, except that they sell or donate the resulting “waste”. Homowners who use TRP for demolition get a bonus - tax deductions, based on the value of the materials salvaged. These deductions can be large, in some cases covering the cost of the demolition itself.
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For those looking to build or renovate their own home, TRP is also a great place to look for materials and appliances on the cheap. Regional warehouses in California, Colorado, Illinois, and Washington are open to the public. They even have inventories online, so you can see if specific items are available before you go.
This weekend, the new Pacoima, CA store is hosting a dedication and open house on Friday (10am - noon) and Saturday (10am - 3pm). Friday’s speakers include Founder and President Ted Reiff, UCLA Professor of Operations and Environmental Management Charles Corbett, and representatives from the EPA, among others. Saturday, May 10th, features a workshop conducted by Reiff at 11am called, “Tax Deductible Donations for Used Building Materials.”
To give you an idea of the kinds of deals available through TRP, the Pacoima site will have doors on sale for $5 on Saturday. Five bucks for a door, and you keep it out of a landfill. That’s really cool.
Hi Cassie,
Timely article.
I just wanted to mention that Whole House Building Supply & Salvage in Palo Alto (http://www.driftwoodsalvage.com/) provides reuse salvage service for the SF South Bay and Peninsula. Although they have a store/warehouse, they reduce some of the hauling and storage overhead by holding “salvage sales”: they photograph and catalog materials from properties slated for demolition/salvage prior to the salvage event and post the information to their website. Informed by the current salvage sale listed on the website, people shopping for specific fixtures and building materials can show up and take those materials away. The folks at Whole House still do all the actual dismantling.
Cheers!
What is the address of your store/warehouse in Los Angeles.
Thankyou
Hi Gloria,
Here is the SoCal address listed on their site (though you might want to call first):
TRP ReUse Bazaar: (GET MAP)
11017 Sutter Ave
Pacoima, CA 91331
T: 818-897-2798
F: 818-897-2807
Hours: Tues - Fri 10am to 5pm & Sat, 10am to 4pm.
Cassie
We have a place just like this in Cincinnati, Ohio.
It is called Building Value, LLC., on Gilbert Avenue.
They have a “deconstruction” team that comes and takes the materials out, then provides a reciept of material, that is tax deductable.
These types of companies are fantastic both for people who need materials for construction jobs at reasonable costs, keeping materials out of landfills and the proceeds go to a non-profit organization.
I encourange any one to come out to Ohio and check it out.
It would be nice to have something like this where I live. I have a lot of contractor waste I have thrown away…I hated doing so because a lot of it was still good…
Huge salvage place in New Bedford, MA. over 80,000 sq ft of used building materials, New England Demolition & Salvage