City of Houston’s Reuse Warehouse Now Open
The City of Houston’s newest recycling jewel, The Building Materials Reuse Warehouse, is a little rough around the edges now but there are big plans ahead. To polish this gem, project organizers from the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Programming, the Solid Waste Management Department, Public Works, Health Department and the Police Department are working together on an ambitious agenda. Their goal is to provide a one-stop recycling shop. The site will be used for storing and distributing building materials, a neighborhood depository, a recycling drop-off center and office space. It’s worth noting that the project itself is an example of reuse; the facility lay vacant for five years before being repurposed for this project.
The driving force behind this project is Sarah Mason, an environmental analyst with Mayor White’s Office. When tasked to think of new recycling programs, Ms. Mason looked around for inspiration. That’s when she heard about Dan Phillips and the Phoenix Commotion, a recycling project run in conjunction with the City of Huntsville that allows building contractors to drop off excess materials at a storage site for other people’s use, including the building of affordable housing.
She took Mr. Phillips’ basic idea and modified it to fit Houston’s needs. Contractors can drop-off excess materials at the Reuse Warehouse which benefits them in three ways: 1) eliminates landfill fees, 2) provides a tax deductible donation, and 3) provides LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification points. Citizens can also make donations. The warehouse allows non-profit organizations to take the donated materials for their use. This provides a direct benefit to the city in reduced landfill consumption. The warehouse is equipped with scales to measure donations for LEED scoring and to track the amount of material diverted from landfills.
Long-term plans include finishing the office space and cleaning a second warehouse to host do-it-yourself classes. Although the materials donated are building materials, the hope is that some non-profits, especially the ones that work with children, will take these materials and reuse them as birdhouses, dog houses or other such crafts.
The Reuse Warehouse opened on April 29, 2009, mostly to get inventory before the grand opening scheduled for June. To make a donation call Project Manager, Jonathan Lohn at 281-814-3324. Items accepted include cabinets, fans, sinks, showers, windows, concrete blocks, pavers, copper, doors, windows, flooring material, glass and gutters. For a complete list and additional information, visit  http://www.greenhoustontx.gov/reuse.html.