The advantages are obvious: Recycling houses means less volume in landfills and less carbon produced in manufacturing. People who itemize with the IRS can get tax breaks for donating material. Plus, consumers get lower prices and often better quality goods if they don’t mind some fix-up and fiddling.

Yet the ReHarvest Center is not exactly bustling. At the front counter, a fading Picasso print looks out over lonely stacks of kitchen cabinets, rows of doors along each wall, leaning into each other, lighting fixtures, sinks, toilets. It’s rarely crowded.

Part of the problem is last year’s closure of the Murray Morgan Bridge .

The building sits at 1113 Saint Paul Ave. – a few hundred feet from the bridge, blocked since last October by concrete barriers. Customers have to go around the Thea Foss Waterway, turn north on Portland Avenue and head back west on East 11th Street.

The store’s co-manager, Barb Garcia, took time last week to share her views on environmentalism, recycling and doing business in a down market.

How does this place work? Is it a regular business?

We’re a nonprofit organization, part of the Metropolitan Development Council’s waste-stream reduction program.

The idea is to keep all of these items you see in the store out of the landfill and to keep the cost down for people who maybe can’t afford to go out and buy new materials.

Where does all the stuff come from?

Most comes from donations and salvage. We also do deconstruction. For example, when we go bid on a house someone is interested in taking down.

We take it down board by board, so we don’t damage any of the items. It’s good for the owners because we’re a nonprofit and can give them a tax receipt.

What was your best-ever score on salvaged stuff? Does one particular house stand out?

Yes. Historic Tacoma. It was up on 17th, up around 17th and Martin Luther King Way on the Hilltop.

There were beautiful mahogany five-panel doors, built-in Craftsman style cabinetry with stained glass, china cabinets, a hutch, mantels, all mahogany, all matching. The items were in beautiful shape for being a hundred years old. It was just beautiful stuff.

If we hadn’t saved it, it would have been crushed.

You got some stuff from the old Salishan housing project when they tore that down, didn’t you?

Yes, we got some really good stuff. Most of it is gone now. I think all that’s left are some of the gas furnaces. We had eight of them; there are four left. We got some great windows, new vinyl, double-paned, low-e glass. They were like new.

Are there things you won’t take?

Yes. Crumbly drywall products. Open paint. Used carpeting. There’s a list of stuff on our brochure. Anything that’s insect infested or has mold on it. Usually we don’t take furniture unless it’s something really special.

What happens to the profits you make?

I don’t think we’re making any profits right now, to tell the truth. But if we do, they cycle back into our other programs. The Metropolitan Development Council has lots of other programs: energy assistance, housing programs, emergency home repair for elderly and disabled, detox centers.

I’m surprised anybody can find this place anymore. Did business drop off quite a bit when they shut down the 11th Street bridge?

It did affect us, but the people who knew about us kept coming.

It’s a jaunt for people. But they usually find us. People will call me and ask how to get here. They usually make it. If they don’t, they just call again.

How has the down economy changed your business?

With hard times right now, people are suffering. We all are.

I’ve noticed a few more people coming in. They’re looking for deals.

People don’t have money for new doors and windows. They’re putting that money into food and essentials. All the money’s going into essentials now.

People come in, and it’s a joy to see their faces light up when they find something that will work for their house – and save them money. It makes you feel good. I like to help people.

Who are the people who tend to come here? Can you generalize at all?

Anyone and everyone.

I get to know a lot of my customers, and they are people who are just looking for deals. Or maybe they have an older house and they’re trying to match something.

What are the most common things they’re looking for?

Common things that people want are reclaimed lumber and quick-fix items, like doors. Windows. Cabinetry. A lot of property managers who have fixer-uppers come here. They can get a better bargain.

Habitat for Humanity has a store in Tacoma that’s kind of similar to this. Have you been there? How would you compare it to yours?

They have a lot of people working there, so they’re better organized.

It’s messier here, but there are some people who like that better. They like to rummage through stuff. I don’t know what it is, but they do.

Right now we don’t have the manpower to have everything so organized. With us it’s just me and Phil.

Phil?

Philip Riley. He’s the muscle. He’s the worker guy.

Is environmentalism part of this or is it all just about getting good deals?

It’s absolutely part of it. Since I’ve been here I’ve been more aware of all the things that people throw out. You realize that everything that surrounds you in the store would be in the landfill if you weren’t here. It’s just sad.

In a way, it’s kind of a noble enterprise.

It is, actually. We have a spot at the landfill, a drop-off site where people can leave items that they think other people could use.

It gives them a good feeling. They don’t have to leave their items at the landfill. There are lots of people out there who want to recycle, but they don’t have the means or the knowledge.

Rob Carson: 253-597-8693 blogs.thenewstribune.com/business

Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | About Our Ads | Advertising Partners | Contact Us | About Us | Site Map | Jobs | RSS
1950 South State Street, Tacoma, Washington 98405 253-597-8742
© Copyright 2009 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company