Environment - Going Green

The ReUse People Lead the Way in Recycling

By Tyler Ribera

When Eula and Michael Dean of Alameda decided to remodel the kitchen and two bathrooms in their Pond Isle home, they had two options: They could pay for an interior demolition crew to tear out the existing material and dispose of the waste in a local landfill, or they could call The ReUse People, or TRP.

Eula Dean remembered reading an article about TRP and liked the idea of recycling. So with one call to TRP, the couple accomplished several things they wouldn't have by demolishing their kitchen and baths the traditional way. For one, they were able to keep nearly all the material out of the landfill with TRP's careful deconstruction. They also earned back much of their cost with the tax savings they received from donating the salvageable items to TRP, itself a charitable nonprofit organization.

The Deans were impressed. "They were so efficient and thorough," Eula Dean says. "They hauled away all the garbage and left everything very clean." The deconstruction took a bit longer than an interior demolition-- about a week, compared to a day or two. But the Deans didn't mind. "They were very professional," Eula Dean adds. "They removed every nail."

Housed in an old warehouse at Alameda Point until a recent move to Oakland, The ReUse People and its employees are dedicated to keeping usable building materials out of landfills. The organization does this by carefully deconstructing a site, as opposed to demolishing it. "That way, we can preserve some of the valuable and reusable items," says Ted Reiff, president and co-founder of the organization.

The ReUse People got its start in 1993, when it participated in a project to help flood victims in Tijuana, Mexico. Project Valle Verde, which involved many agencies on both sides of the border, donated 400 tons of building material valued at $1.2 million. Since then, TRP has salvaged and distributed more than 230,000 tons of material, all the while reducing waste and diverting usable materials from the solid waste stream.

In 2002, TRP was employed to salvage more than 8,500 tons of material from the set of the two Matrix movies, filmed, in part, at Alameda Point. About 7,000 tons of concrete were purchased by local contractors and likely deposited in local road bases and building projects.

Reiff says business has been brisk for TRP, which employs 18 full-time and five parttime workers in California, Washington and Colorado. In 2004, the organization was involved in 54 deconstruction projects. Last year, TRP completed more than 100 projects. "This year, we expect to complete about 150 projects," says Reiff, who prostelytizes the virtues of green, environmentally sound building practices to anyone who will listen. "Salvaging is the start of green building principles," Reiff observes. "They work together like a hand in a glove."

TRP is not just involved in the recycling aspect of deconstruction, but it also educates the public about the benefits of TRP programs. Reiff has spoken to contractors with the U.S. Department of Defense, local universities, professional groups like the American Institute of Architects and many others. He will be speaking soon in Monterey at a training seminar for the U.S. Green Building Council, the organization that issues LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification. Reiff notes that "10 years ago, the reception [to green principles] was not so good." But today, things are much better. "Green building is going mainstream," he says.

Richard Vaterlaus, an Alameda-based architect and owner of Acme Architectural Group agrees, saying, "Many of the builders I work with are more interested in green building principles," he says. It's a trend that is catching on. "Some of my builderclients are working toward getting their projects LEED certified," he says. TRP also offers a training and certification program on its deconstruction techniques.

TRP's Web site (www.theReUsepeople. org) explains how the economics of the business works for a typical property owner. While a full demolition and disposal of debris may cost $10,000, a deconstruction may cost more like $20,000 initially. But the benefit to the property owner comes through a charitable donation of the useable materials (often saving enough in taxes to more than offset the difference in cost). And the societal benefit is that less waste is deposited in overused and over-committed landfills. Indeed, the benefits seem to be universal.

Builders and low-income families also benefit through lower prices of salvaged materials. For builders doing remodels, the Alameda Point site was ideal for picking up materials like windows, doors, tubs, cabinets and many other building materials at rock-bottom prices. Other charities and organizations also receive benefits as direct recipients of recycled materials.

"We donate at least 10 percent of our surplus to local nonprofits," Reiff says. "We put that clause in our charter," he says proudly, "not because we had to, but because we wanted to." TRP does a lot of work with Habitat for Humanity, donating material for churches, orphanages in Mexico and other organizations in need. Reiff hopes that TRP will soon partner with Habitat for Humanity on another storage facility in San Jose.

The warehouse at Alameda Point was bursting at the seams with material, prompting a move this spring to 9235 San Leandro St. in Oakland (510-383-1983) for the main office, warehouse and the ReUse Bazaar. "Salvaging is one thing," Reiff says, "but selling and distributing the material is really another whole business."

What in Reiff 's background prepared him for such a role? "Absolutely nothing," he laughs, although he was once a builder in the Midwest. "I always enjoyed the outdoors," he says. In his spare time he hunted and fished. "The environment was always important to me." Later, Reiff moved to San Diego and enjoyed some success as an investment banker, specializing in emerging technologies. "I guess I learned how to adapt different business models," he concedes. "TRP is a nonprofit," he says, "but it's still a business." And a very successful one at that.