I saw this video today and immediately realized I’ve been overlooking an important issue on this blog. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These are the important “3 Rs” of resource conservation, and the reason that they are in that order is that reducing and reusing conserve a lot more energy and resources than recycling; I know this is a no brainer when you think of it, but how many of us model our life styles around reducing and reusing?
To encourage you to work on incorporating the first two (reducing and reusing) more into your lifestyle, I’m including this video that shows just how good people can be at reducing and reusing.
REX, or the Reuse Everything Experiment, is the brainchild of Shannon Quimby who bought a dilapidated home and instead of bulldozing it and starting new, Quimby dismantled it piece by piece and built a new house out of the old. They did this without a dumpster and in the process saved over $50,000. It is an incredible project and something that we could all learn from next time we go shopping.
What are you reusing or recycling today that may inspire others to do the same?
If you happen to be in NYC, here is a great store that sells reused and recycled building materials.
http://www.bignyc.org/frontpage
Even if you don’t happen to be in New York, there are a lot of great resources here.
Maybe we can build my brother-in-law his own private suite when he moves in tomorrow with reusable materials from the play house outside!
Love your articles…..and hearing about innovations such as this true home restoration, so to speak!!