Donation of Building Materials: Helping with Correct Disposal

Building materials are essential to constructing a sustainable infrastructure. However, when some people finish their projects, they usually discard these materials incorrectly, damaging the environment, increasing pollution and causing damage to our planet. This is why there is a donation of building materials.

Why make a donation of building materials?

As mentioned before, the donation of building materials gives us a chance to help the environment by preventing us from incorrectly disposing of these materials. This type of donation also gives us the chance to help others who may need these materials, but cannot afford them.

As for the environmental question, the incorrect discarding of building materials can harm the environment in which we live for many years. Wood, for example, takes an average of 6 months to decompose in nature. On the other hand, materials made of glass, such as light bulbs, take an average of 4,000 years to decompose.

Fortunately there are institutions that receive this type of donation and use this material to build homes for families in precarious life situations, or make the correct disposal without harming the environment.

Thus, if you have some building material that you will no longer use and do not know where to dispose of it, consider donating it.

What can be donated?

Normally the institutions will state which materials they need, but in general the following items are accepted:

Where to make a donation of building materials?

We have listed some institutions for you that accept building materials for donation, their addresses and what they do with the donations:

#1 Rebuilding Center

3625 N. Mississippi Ave.
Portland, OR, 97227
Phone: (503) 331-9291
Fax: (503) 331-1873
E-mail: info@rebuildingcenter.org

Monday – Friday
10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Saturday
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Items accepted:

• Doors
• Lighting
• Sinks
• Tubs
• Tile, carpet and flooring
• Lumber, trim and siding
• Glass and mirror
• Windows
• Appliances
• Fencing
• Roofing and insulation
• Pipes and gutters
• Hardware

Rebuilding Center resells building materials and promotes the use of salvaged materials.

#2 Habitat for Humanity

Washington
Clark County Habitat Store
10811 SE 2nd Street
Vancouver, WA 98664
E-mail: info@pdxrestore.org
Phone: (360) 213-1313

New York
Capital District HFH ReStore
70 Fuller Rd
Albany, NY 12205
E-mail: restore@habitatcd.org
Phone: (518) 275-6638

Florida
Orlando ReStore - College Park, HFH of Greater
2105 Orange Blossom Trl
Orlando, FL 32804
E-mail: restore@habitat-orlando.org
Phone: (407) 426-7192

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore accepts donations of new and used building materials, furniture, appliances, lighting fixtures and other home goods. These are then sold to raise money for their projects.

#3 Better Futures Enterprises

2620 Minnehaha Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Phone: (612) 455-6133

Tuesday – Friday
11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Saturday
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Sunday – Monday
Closed

Items accepted:

• Dimensional lumber
• Trim
• Plywood
• Paneling
• Siding
• Fencing
• Doors
• Windows

Better Futures works to preserve the environment by promoting environmentally sustainable practices through deconstruction, recycling, repurposing and reusing materials from appliances, homes and buildings.

#4 Leonardo's Basement

150 West 60th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55419
Phone: (612) 824-4394

Items accepted:

• Hardware
• Lumber
• Tools
• Ceramic tile
• Strainers

Leonardo’s Basement is a creative learning environment for kids of all ages to design and build things from their imagination.

Stardust Building Supplies

Glendale
5150 W. Northern Ave.
Glendale, AZ 85301
Phone: (602) 424-1575

Mesa
1720 W. Broadway Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85202
Phone: (480) 428-4684

Phoenix
3901 E. Thunderbird Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85032
Phone: (602) 459-9803

Monday – Saturday
8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Sunday
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Items accepted:

• Windows
• Doors
• Appliances
• Light fixtures
• Tubs
• Tile
• Shutters
• Flooring
• Hardware
• Furniture
• Lumber
• Trim
• Siding

Stardust is a nonprofit organization that sells reclaimed building materials for home improvement projects and promotes reusing materials.

#5 Community Forklift

4671 Tanglewood Drive
Edmonston, MD 20781
Phone: (301) 985-5180
Fax: (301) 985-5182
E-mail: info@reusenetwork.org

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday and Friday
9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Items accepted:

• Flooring
• Furniture
• Glass and mirror
• Hardware
• Landscaping materials
• Light fixtures
• Lumber
• Trim
• Masonry
• Paint items
• Shower doors
• Sheet goods
• Tile
• Tools
• Tubs
• Windows

Community Forklift is a nonprofit reuse center that makes the building materials available to the public at low costs and provides vintage materials for restoring old homes. They also offer public education about reusing and distributing free supplies to local nonprofits and neighbors in need.