SECOND USE BUILDING MATERIALS OFFERS THREE EXCITING EVENTS NOV. 17 - DEC. 1

 

You’ve probably heard the old saying “What goes around comes around.” That sentence perfectly describes the architectural salvage and deconstruction business called Second Use Building Materials, with a retail store at 3223 6th Ave. S. in Seattle. Here’s why:

1.)         The good people at Second Use, along with their customers, prevent perfectly usable building materials, fixtures, furniture, hardware, lighting, and more from ending up in landfills. Instead, these leftovers from demolition or remodeling projects “come around” again as they find new homes and sometimes new uses in the hands of creative people.

2.)         If “What goes around comes around” refers to karma, Second Use can look forward to an increasingly happy future. This business with a conscience understands that the more good we do, the more we give back to society, the more we encourage others to care about the planet, the more positive things will “come around” to us again.

According to Outreach Coordinator Mary Anne Carter, the mission of Second Use is, " ... to make salvage affordable, accessible, and intuitive for the community.” With these goals in mind, the business has planned three exciting events well worth attending. They are:

·         A Salvaged Gift Workshop on November 17—11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

·         A Black Friday Sale on November 29

·         A Handmade Market on December 1



Salvaged Gift Workshop

Here is a way for you to create or buy wonderful holiday gifts without following along with the crowd and spending your hard earned money at a big box store.

Second Use Staff Member Sheena McNeice will teach the coat hook/jewelry holder part of the workshop.

“Although building materials comprise the bulk of our inventory, there is no limit to the resourcefulness of our customers,” Carter said. “Shutters become magazine racks; window sashes become greenhouses; bowling alleys become coffee tables; hardware becomes jewelry, bathtubs become planters and ponds.”

She wants people to realize that greater use of salvage means diverting waste from landfills and increasing the community’s self-sufficiency. It costs nothing to observe the workshops. If you want to make a project, there is a modest $10 fee for materials. Second Use has this notice on their website: Registration will be limited to 45 guests and will fill up quickly! Please register online today. Kit fees will be required prior to the event and can be paid by check, cash, or credit card. To pay with a credit card, please call Second Use at 206-763-6929.

Dirk Wassink, one of three owners at Second Use, says the business not only reclaims materials but also passes along some of their stories. How true. Our house in Tacoma has a beautiful and very unusual vintage glass light fixture in the entry, bought at Second Use for far less than what it would cost in an antique store. Someone remodeling an old house in West Seattle thought it was junk and wanted to get rid of it. Now it has a happy new home where it is appreciated. My husband has used bricks from Seattle’s early streets for garden paths and flower bed edgings. I could tell you plenty of personal Second Use stories.

Do you see the potential in these materials? The staff at Second Use does. See below.



You never know what you’ll see when you visit as it changes all the time. They have everything, including the kitchen sink! That could mean a marble fireplace mantel from a mansion, interior doors from an elegant old hotel, or vintage school desks. You can even conveniently check out the inventory online.

Wassink is amazed by the creativity of the store’s customers when it comes to finding new uses for the vast array of objects and materials in stock. He invites everyone to discover the rewards of repurposing would-be waste for gifts or your own use.

 

Make candlesticks from recycled turned wood!

“Our Salvaged Gift Workshop on November 17 provides an invitation to those of us who might otherwise hesitate to make something cool from salvaged materials to go ahead and jump in,” Wassink said. “Each one of us has creativity, and this workshop helps nudge that creativity along with just enough guidance and materials."

He believes that when people become involved in making the things they use and give as gifts they take, "... a powerful step to balance out the consumer orientation we encounter so much elsewhere in our lives." He suggests we put a little of ourselves into gift giving this season.

 

McNeice will guide you through every step.



Stay tuned for another post on Good Life Northwest about the exciting Black Friday Sale on November 29, and the Handmade Market happening on December 1.

Note: If you already produce handmade items to sell, and would like to do so at the Handmade Market event for only $15 per space, you can access the vendor application here. Don't wait too long. They are only accepting twenty vendors.

Doesn’t all of this sound like fun? Thank you, Second Use!

Second Use Building Materials has moved to 3223 6^th Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98134. Phone (206) 763-6929 Click HERE for a map and directions.

Photos by Mary Anne Carter

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Wishing you a New Year with LESS

Now that the holiday gift giving season is over, how much additional “stuff” do you have in your house? How much of it do you really want or actually need? And how much did your own gift giving add to the clutter and waste in the world? On this last day of the old year, and eve of the new, my biggest resolution for 2009 is to live with LESS. I mean less spending and consumption, less clutter, less to care for and store, and less stress, resulting in MORE of my most precious resources: time and energy to enjoy my life.

As a young child in the late 1950s and early ‘60s I loved looking at the Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog and coveting all those new toys. At the same time I’d hear “old” people say they didn’t want any gifts because they already had everything they needed. To me that sounded just plain CRAZY. In my teen years it seemed embarrassing that my mother did things like saving buttons off worn-out garments before tearing them up into cleaning rags, or using vinegar and water to wash windows instead of buying Windex. It took her awhile to accept the idea of paper towels people just threw away after using, and the same with plastic packaging and disposable diapers. If some old apple tree produced nothing but wormy apples she’d cut off the salvageable parts and make applesauce. I blamed it all on the fact that she’d lived through the Great Depression, but wished she’d “get with it”. Mom was so old fashioned.

Oh my, if only she had lived to see me now…

My mother was right. I have my own jar of used buttons and a “rag bag” and more. Sorry Mom, but by now I’ve surpassed even you, in the recycling department, and when I use up this last roll of plastic wrap I’m not buying any more, even though I‘m kind of “clingy” in my relationship with that stuff. My friends and I get excited about discovering bargains and brag to each other about our thrift store and yard sale finds. It’s a big thrill to make something from nothing or find clever ways of reusing things. My husband and I love poking around architectural salvage places like Second Use, where we’ve found old bricks from Seattle’s original streets for a garden path, and a beautiful antique light fixture for our entry. Similar items show up at Tacoma’s Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It feels good to give new life to old things or pass along what you don’t need to someone who can use it.

When I visited Telluride, Colorado a few years ago (where there’s no shortage of money) I discovered the town had a “free box”. People leave things they don’t want or need, like clothing, household goods, books, tools, etc. and anyone who comes along is welcome to take whatever they want. I loved that idea and would like to see other communities start it up. But on the internet I found a bunch of fun and informative sites with the same treasure hunt appeal.

So… in honor of the memory of my mother, here’s a list of some great web resources for recycling, reusing, trading, bartering, and reducing waste, I hope you’ll enjoy.


Second Use Building Materials

Tacoma’s Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Habitat for Humanity U.S. directory of stores with many in the Pacific Northwest. Look for one near you.

Olympia Salvage

Freecycle

Barterquest

The Re-Store (Bellingham and Seattle, WA)

Hippo Hardware in Portland, OR

Earthwise Salvage

Remember your local used book stores. In Tacoma try:

Kings Books, Culpepper's, Point Defiance Books, and Half Price Books
Book Mooch

EcoGeek

Planet Green

Simple Living-"30 days to a simpler life"

More Life Less Stuff

Earth 911

Green Yahoo

And this one is full of fun ideas…
Ecologue
Check out the topics called “Recycled Goods” and “Crafty Recycling” for some interesting projects you can do, some suitable for kids.

Enjoy! Here’s wishing you a great new year with less of what you don’t need and more of the things that matter.

THE SMART MONKEY STORY

"Smart Monkey wanted to save the planet
but didn't know anything about
environmental science or CAFÉ standards,
and wasn't even rich or powerful.

But Smart Monkey had gone
to fashion school and
one day had an idea…"

So begins a brochure created by Leah Andersson, Tacoma entrepreneur and owner of Smart Monkey Knits. This morning I asked her about the name.

"One day I dropped a pen behind the couch and couldn't reach it with my hand" she said. "Then I thought to turn my hand, twisting it a certain way, and suddenly it worked and I said out loud 'Smart Monkey'. That's how I got the idea but it also means I hope mankind is getting smarter as we continue to evolve."

Leah wakes up every morning focused on her goals. But even with all her intelligence, hard work, long hours, and dedication you could say that Andersson's business is unraveling. Literally. She unravels gently used, natural fiber sweaters and turns them into newly created knit or crochet garments and accessories, or simply gorgeous skeins of what she calls "refurbished" yarn.

How does she do this? It involves buying sweaters at thrift stores or garage sales, taking them apart, unraveling, thoroughly washing the yarn, wrapping onto racks for air drying, and then gathering it into skeins using the skein winder she recently purchased. Before that she wound all the yarns into balls by hand. It's the first step, that most excites the keen eye and imagination of this fiber artist who holds a Certificate of Professional Designation in Clothing Production from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California. She can see the hidden potential in an ugly sweater, if the yarn and colors hold appeal.

Why does she do this?

" Because our planet is smaller than we think and we should all do our little bit to manage the resources we have. Synthetic/petroleum based fibers and dyes pollute the environment. Imported items take away jobs from Americans and screw up our trade deficit" she says. "The production of even natural yarn leaves a big carbon footprint. It takes fuel to raise the sheep, do the manufacturing, and transporting, sometimes around the world. I can't undo those things but at least I can extend the life of it once it's been made."

Beyond all that, Leah's efforts are a reflection of her philosophy of avoiding waste and "making do", far from a new concept. In my generation I watched my mother save every button and zipper from discarded clothing and then cut it up into rags, typical of women like her, who lived through the Great Depression.

The "whys" also include less tangible benefits, like the delights of creativity. Whether by her hands or those of someone else, seeing the metamorphosis of used garments into stunning new fashions with exciting combinations of colors thrills Andersson.

I met Leah not long after Smart Monkey grew from a fuzzy little idea to a real business. In the beginning she concentrated on creating simple knitted and crocheted items like hats, scarves, shawls, ponchos, and baby blankets to sell as finished products at farmers markets and street fairs. As a knitter I couldn't resist walking up to her booth the first time I saw the rich palate of colors and tactile appeal it presents. I also liked her sign that says "Not made in China".

After finding out I could knit and crochet Leah recruited me to help with production, a growing challenge. In addition to the beauty of the finished items customers loved the whole idea of recycling and reusing and demand soared. I became one of several women who helped Leah keep the inventory coming.

Of course knitters embraced the whole concept of the business, but knitters are always thinking "I'd rather do it myself". Leah soon had requests for just the yarn. She filled a few orders but continued making items to sell. As business increased time available for the needlework seemed to decrease. That's when Smart Monkey had another great idea: emphasizing selling the yarn.


Now when you visit Smart Monkey at the Broadway Farmers Market in Tacoma or the Fremont Market in Seattle, your eyes will go straight for the neat brown paper bags with handles, full of luscious offerings: wool, cotton, silk and ramie, with a richness of color only natural fibers can attain. The hues and textures will delight you and so will the prices. A bag of yarn averaging 1,000 yards, plenty for a sweater (after all it WAS a sweater) will cost you about $35. Where could you ever find such a deal on good yarn, much less a finished garment?

I love the tags tied to the handles. In addition to telling "The Story of Smart Monkey" they show a photo of the original sweater that particular bag of yarn came from and the original fiber content and care label is attached. Custom orders are also available. You can even bring in a used sweater of your own and let Leah work her metamorphosis magic on it.

Leah still sells plenty of finished items too. One of her most popular with shoppers is the reusable "market bag", perfect for all that fresh produce. She can't seem to make enough of those and sells many for gifts.

"Remember, there are only about 114 days until Christmas" she said to me today. Thanks Leah. That isn't necessarily what I wanted to hear, but I know this much. When I do get around to Christmas shopping I'll be doing some at Smart Monkey, especially for myself. Hey, I've been good this year.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Leah Andersson can be reached at (253) 229-2841 or leah@neilandersson.com
Coming soon: www.smartmonkeyknits.com
Smart Monkey will be at Tacoma's Broadway Farmers Market every Thursday until it closes on Oct. 16th and at the Fremont Farmers Market in Seattle every Sunday all year long.

Also be sure to check out the radio interview Leah gave about her business on the KUOW program "Sound Focus".