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CITY OF HOUSTON OPENS BUILDING MATERIALS REUSE WAREHOUSE
June 23, 2009 -- Mayor Bill White today announced that the City of Houston has formally opened its Building Materials Reuse Warehouse. The Reuse Warehouse, located at 9003 N. Main, accepts donated building materials from builders, contractors, remodelers and the general public and makes the materials freely available for use by any non-profit organization.
The Warehouse benefits the Houston community by providing storage space for excess building material that would otherwise be dumped in local landfills. The City of Houston stores the materials until they can be used by area organizations.
 Donations are limited to items that are suitable for reuse. Examples include odd lots of leftover inventory such as rolls of flooring material, lumber scraps from construction, or items such as cabinetry or plumbing fixtures from a home remodel.
A recent study by the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) noted that approximately 38% of the waste stream in the Houston area is construction and demolition material, much of which could be diverted. By storing the materials until they can be used by community groups, the Warehouse helps keep these valuable resources out of local landfills.
The City’s Director of Environmental Programming, Karl Pepple, said of the project, “The Reuse Warehouse will provide an excellent service to the residents of Houston while helping protect our environment for future generations. This project has the potential to divert more than 200 tons of valuable material out of our landfills each year.”
The Reuse Warehouse is partially funded by an H-GAC Solid Waste Implementation grant, in partnership with the Living Paradigm. The Living Paradigm is a Houston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income families build and own their own homes.
The inspiration for the Reuse Warehouse came from a similar municipal warehouse in Huntsville, Texas. Dan Phillips, owner of the Phoenix Commotion, is a Huntsville resident who helped coordinate the establishment of the Huntsville warehouse. Phillips builds houses made almost entirely from salvaged and recycled materials for low-income families, single mothers, and artists. Phillips calls the Houston Reuse Warehouse “one major element in the environmental imperative equation.” He further states, “With a municipal warehouse in place…Houston could indeed become the leader in the country for smart growth and sustainability.”
The Reuse Warehouse is located at 9003 N. Main, in Northeast Houston. The Reuse Warehouse is open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesday-Friday.
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