This weekend my wife and I went off in search of a carpet remnant. In our case we needed some cheap, clean carpet to cover more expensive carpet so my wife could go a little wild with her paints in a borrowed art studio (nee bedroom). The point was that we needed something and we did not want to pay very much for it. Our solution was to visit the ReStore (http://www.restorenova.org/)in Alexandria, Virginia where we got a serviceable few yards of pile carpet for just $5 or about a quarter of what it would have cost had we bought it new. Key concepts here are that we saved money and stopped something from going to a landfill, but the tale is deeper than that. The rest of the story—as the late Paul Harvey would have said—is that our $5 dollars went on to benefit the local Habitat for Humanity operation (http://www.habitat.org/).

Before you start thinking that this is a unique arrangement, these models—where a generous donor or business donates building or household materials to a non-profit which in turn sells it to benefit its program work—are found pretty much everywhere. For instance, when we lived in Vermont we probably shopped more at ReSource (formerly Recycle North http://www.resourcevt.org/) than we did traditional department stores. And when we were in Santa Barbara, California we also hit Art from Scrap (http://www.artfromscrap.org/)which takes what most businesses would consider trash and works with local artists—both practiced and neophyte—to turn what was once considered garbage into assemblage art that often brings a pretty penny. We are lucky to own a few pieces and they always seen to generate comment.

The roots of this reuse movement run deep in our culture and probably start with church rummage, tag, and yard sales. These actions later became more formalized via the Salvation Army, Goodwill Industries and a host of thrift and second hand stores. So we should be comfortable with this activity.

Four things need to happen for the above model to work. First, folks and businesses have to be generous enough to make donations of useable materials which are often tax deductable. Next ordinary citizens like you and I need to volunteer at these centers to sort, promote, and sell these items. Those that cannot drop off things or volunteer should drop off a little cash now and then to help these needy organizations and programs. And the rest of us need to cruise these recycling “super” stores for bargains. So give, help, donate, and buy it is as simple as that.