More and more homeowners are electing to recycle as much of the material as possible when tearing down a house (deconstruction) or doing a major remodel. This Wall Street Journal article tells one homeowner's story.

In addition to helping save the planet, recycling what you can makes economic sense. Materials you can reuse in your new house can help reduce costs there. And, materials that are donated, say to a Habitat Restore, can provide a tax deduction.

There are a number of places locally to recycle these materials. Some operate for profit. Some, such as Habitat for Humanity's Restores are used to fund charitable organizations.

To find other businesses that help you recycle, check out this previous blog post.

Remodeling our homes is filling up landfills! Every year 136 million tons of construction and demolition materials are discarded. This accounts for more than half of all landfill waste! And much of the stuff that's discarded is perfectly usable.  Just because you tired of the cool black bathtub after one year doesn't mean someone else wouldn't give their eyeteeth to own it!

The good news is that we can do better! There are programs in place to help us all recycle what we no longer need and find recycled choices for ourselves when we're remodeling.

Habitat for Humanity now has Restores where you can shop. They take new, unused construction materials that are donated by builders and resell them to the public to help fund the organization's building programs. You can find more information on their web site at http://www.habitat.org/env/restores

You can also find a local Restore in Manassas.

Deconstruction services are becoming more popular throughout the country. Deconstruction is construction in reverse and is used instead of demolition. Materials can then be salvaged and reused elsewhere. There are potential tax breaks available for homeowners who donate materials to deconstruction services.

You can find a directory of deconstruction services at http://www.deconstructioninstitute.com

And, next month, watch for a list of resources on this topic on my web site: http://www.JulieEmery.com

For more information on this topic now, you can also pick up the September issue of Better Homes & Gardens. See the article "12 Ways to Waste Less"

If you know of other resources on this topic or are involved in deconstruction work yourself, please drop me an e-mail at Julie@JulieEmery.com so I can include the information on my web page.

It's easier and easier to make wise environmental choices in many areas. It's great to see the improvements in the home remodeling area as well!