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Deconstruct Your Building For Free
Green Technology Featured Articles
May 10, 2013

Deconstruct Your Building For Free

By Ashley Caputo
TMCnet Web Editor

Being environmentally friendly can turn into a costly matter, especially in terms of buying green innovations like cars that run on batteries as opposed to oil or even purchasing recycled goods. However, what if we told you that one of the biggest expenses private homeowners or organizations have when purchasing a home or office space, can cost nothing if it’s done the green way?


Build It Green!NYC, a nonprofit organization running two reuse centers in NYC for the public to donate their unwanted building materials to, offers free pick-ups for large donations, along with three full time deconstructionists on staff who help disassemble and carefully remove materials from homes and business in metro New York. 

For example, the most popular deconstruction projects have been when someone purchases a new apartment and wants to redesign the kitchen. They end up removing kitchen cabinets, countertops, and pre-owned appliances, something that contractors could charge around $2,000 to remove and throw away. Rather than hiring a moving company, it can use Build It Green!NYC’s services for free, help recycle and receive a tax-deductible receipt.

In an effort to help keep more materials out of the landfill, these services are offered to help NYC salvage more materials, and they do their best to offer services free of charge in order, according to Jaclyn Jablkowski, Communications Manager at Build It Green!NYC . Similar to many nonprofit reuse centers, they resell the materials that are donated and collected by the staff, and price materials at 40-80 percent off regular retail prices. 

Customers and suppliers include the business community, like general contractors, plumbing and electrical contractors, theatre and film companies, commercial and residential property developers, building managers, artisans, city agencies, homeowners and long-term renters alike.

“In addition to salvaging building materials, we make donations to local community-based groups and nonprofit organizations, so that they may benefit from the materials (at no cost), and we also host a compost program,” says Jablkowski. “BIG!Compost is a community-scale composting network that works to increase capacity for, acceptance of, participation in composting in western Queens.”

Build It Green!NYC serves the public by hosting weekly and event-specific food scrap drop-offs, training community members in urban composting best practices, and providing high-quality compost to amend the city’s soil. The finished compost is used in community gardens, on street trees, and in public beautification projects.

The technology industry can help this nonprofit sector by offering pro-bono help with software improvements and website development. “There are so many great opportunities out there for software systems that could better serve nonprofit organizations, but at the moment each organization has to spend their time and limited funds to piece together systems that can further their mission,” says Jablkowski . “I think it would be amazing if talented tech businesses would offer their help to their favorite nonprofit, big or small!”

Build It Green!NYC now operates in a 35,000 square foot warehouse at 3-17 26th Ave in Astoria, Queens and a second location at 69 9th St. in Gowanus, Brooklyn. For more information on how to use its deconstruction services or donate to its cause, please visit Build It Green!NYC.




Edited by Rory J. Thompson


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