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Celebrate Earth Day April 22nd

My celebration of Earth Day started nearly one month ago with a guest invitation to Seattle International Interior Design Association’s (IIDA) Leadership Breakfast. And how fitting that the honoree, from Seattle, is Denis Hayes. He rose to national prominence in 1970 as the coordinator of the first Earth Day. Hayes founded the Earth Day Network and expanded it to more than 180 nations.

Denis Hayes in 1970

Adding perspective, the keynote speaker, Vincent Stanley of Patagonia, emphasized that of the 4 R’s – Recycle, Reuse, Reduce and Restore, the most important is to REDUCE. Vincent is the author of “The Responsible Company,” a gem of a book.

The messages of these two leaders were inspirational as both truly “walk their talk.” Denis as leader of the Bullitt Center, “The Greenest Commercial Building in the World,” envisions this building as a living organism.

Bullitt Center Video

Vincent, with passion and eloquence, implored guests to “understand what we’re doing when we make things” as we cannot solve the problems of climate change until we reduce.

For more information on Earth Day 2013, click here.

Tags: Bullitt Center, Denis Hayes, Earth Day 2013, environment, Faith Sheridan Design Group, green building, Green Design, interior design, interior designer Seattle WA, Patagonia, The Responsible Company, Vincent Stanley
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Roy Hunter, a contractor and environmentalist started Second Use after becoming frustrated with the amount of materials he saw getting thrown away on construction sites. He pooled finances with a few family members and leased an empty 2-acre field in Woodinville, Washington as the site of the first store. The first inventory consisted of salvaged lumber and beams from the demolition of a Fred Meyer store in north Seattle. Second Use has been reclaiming building materials for reuse in the Puget Sound region since 1994.

Second Use Founder Roy Hunter

In 1997, the Seattle store opened in its current location on Second Avenue South in the South Park neighborhood. Second Use has been recognized for ongoing growth and achievement in the community. In 2006, it was a winner of the Seattle Mayor’s Small Business Award. In 2007, it received the Washington State Recycling Association’s “Recycler of the year – business primary” award.

Online Inventory Search

Whether you are a homeowner, business owner, or contractor Second Use can help you find a greener way to approach your next remodel or demolition.  If you have a project you’d like to discuss, please contact our field crew.  If you have materials you’d like to bring in, see our acceptance policies and/or visit our store.  You can also learn more about our salvage services by exploring the links.

I hope you will visit Second Use either online or in person.  Try the calculator:

Find out how much re-using materials can save the environment in real world terms:

• Lbs of CO₂ averted
• Days a fluorescent bulb could stay lit
• Miles a SUV could drive

Love your comments, Faith

Tags: environment, Green Design, recycle, remodel, remodeling, resource
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It’s a comfortable habit, sitting with your newspaper, coffee and scanning the stories of the day.  It’s also a tremendous use of trees at a time when you can easily get your news fix by switching to a news aggregator like Google News or Yahoo.  Using these feeds you can read a multitude of newspapers in online form. 

So save a few dollars; save a few trees; and help save the news biz as it migrates from the newsstand to your smartphone.  What do you say?

Tags: daily news, environment, Green Design, newspaper, recycle, save trees
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