Used Building Materials

Reduce | Reuse | Recycle | Facilities

How do I go green?

Reduce

Think about whether you really need to complete that second bathroom project or add that sunroom on to the back of your house.  The best renovation is no renovation (even better than building green) and it might just protect your marriage, too!
Only purchase the quantities that you need, gypsum board for example almost costs as much to recycle as it does to purchase.

Reuse

Shop at businesses that sell good reusable building materials. Visit the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, usedvictoria.com or craigslist for good reusable materials.  Use recycled, salvaged materials whenever possible. They will lend integrity and character to your renovation project, whether through use of traditional mouldings, old fashioned door knobs or exposed beams.

Recycle

Some used building materials such as drywall are banned from going into the garbage.  When completing your own demolition project, make sure to deconstruct carefully, so that old materials can be reused, either by you or by someone else, or recycled.  Used Building Materials have great potential for future reuse and recycling. Check the listings below as well as these Recyclopedia sections for further info:

• Asphalt Shingles
• Concrete 
• Drywall 
• Glass (unbroken windows)
• Gravel 
• Gypsum Board 
• Lumber 
• Paint 
• Pallets 
• Rock 
• Underlay 
• Wood shakes