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Roy Hunter, a contractor and environmentalist started Second Use after becoming frustrated with the amount of materials he saw getting thrown away on construction sites. He pooled finances with a few family members and leased an empty 2-acre field in Woodinville, Washington as the site of the first store. The first inventory consisted of salvaged lumber and beams from the demolition of a Fred Meyer store in north Seattle. Second Use has been reclaiming building materials for reuse in the Puget Sound region since 1994.

Second Use Founder Roy Hunter

In 1997, the Seattle store opened in its current location on Second Avenue South in the South Park neighborhood. Second Use has been recognized for ongoing growth and achievement in the community. In 2006, it was a winner of the Seattle Mayor’s Small Business Award. In 2007, it received the Washington State Recycling Association’s “Recycler of the year – business primary” award.

Online Inventory Search

Whether you are a homeowner, business owner, or contractor Second Use can help you find a greener way to approach your next remodel or demolition. If you have a project you’d like to discuss, please contact our field crew. If you have materials you’d like to bring in, see our acceptance policies and/or visit our store. You can also learn more about our salvage services by exploring the links.

I hope you will visit Second Use either online or in person. Try the calculator:

Find out how much re-using materials can save the environment in real world terms:

• Lbs of CO₂ averted
• Days a fluorescent bulb could stay lit
• Miles a SUV could drive

Love your comments, Faith

Tags: environment, Green Design, recycle, remodel, remodeling, resource
Posted in Green Design, Ideas and Inspirations | No Comments »

“The Furniture Wars: How America Lost a 50 Billion Dollar Industry” by Michael K. Dugan in Paperback; $20.99 Michael Dugan is past President and CEO of Henredon Furniture Industries. He served in that position for 17 years from 1987 to 2004. The book chronicles the impact of globalization on the furniture industry.

This book provides real-life information about the downturn of a critical industry. As someone who works with the generations of talented individuals who lost their livelihood to globalization, it is a poignant message. What returned in the form of furniture from Asia is pseudo-furniture; looks like furniture but quickly finds a way to the nearest landfill.

Reed Business writes

The book offers an insider’s critical look at the impact of globalization on the American furniture business, an industry that went from making ‘world class’ products to shutting down plants in 5 years. With tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars at stake, the industry was taught a painful lesson. The failure to learn from the experience will result in more losses for the furniture business and other industries as well, making this book particularly relevant to our times.

Professor Dugan is currently the Chair of the Business School at Lenoir-Rhyne University. Previously he was the President and CEO of Henredon Furniture Industries, a position he held for 17 years. Widely recognized by insiders as an industry pioneer and marketing guru, he played the lead role in building the Pennsylvania House brand and co-founded his own furniture company, Jamestown Sterling. He is a contributing editor to “Home Furnishings Business” magazine and writes book reviews for the “Hickory Daily Record.” A frequent guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, Dugan teaches a graduate course in Leadership and an undergraduate course in Marketing at Lenoir Rhyne. His business career involved working with many influential people including Polo chief Ralph Lauren,long time Bloomimgdale’s ceo, Marvin Traub, and designer Barbara Barry. A graduate of the University of Toronto, where he majored in English Literature and Medieval Philosophy, he holds an MBA degree from Syracuse University.

What do you think about the loss of the furniture industry?

Tags: furniture industry decline, globalization impact, resource, Seattle
Posted in Ideas and Inspirations | 6 Comments »

A delightful story profiles Watson Kennedy this month in Home Accents Today. Described as a ‘creative country gentlemen’, Ted Kennedy Watson, owns three Watson Kennedy shops in Seattle. First in his home and then later in a wholesale showroom in the Seattle Market Center, Watson created a distinct interpretation relished by others.

His first location, still there, opened for business in the heart of the city’s historic Pike Place Market, in a building with a picture window overlooking Puget Sound. Watson selects all of his merchandise, new and vintage, and enjoys reconnecting with old friends at the markets and trade shows.

Watson also buys tons of vintage furnishings and accessories for each of the shops, and travels each year to England and France in search of one-of-a-kind objects. He’s also very specific about the look and feel of his shops, which are characterized by highly visual, quality displays designed to tempt the senses. “The overall look and experience is fairly Old World.”

His customers are described as well-traveled, well-educated creative souls who are looking to fill their homes with special and one-of-a-kind items.

“Core to my business strategy is offering something beautiful to everyone, no matter their wallet. Someone can leave with a beautifully wrapped $6 bar of soap or a $4,000 table. Both customers are treated the same, get the same wrapping and attention. Overall, I would say our average price point is $25.”

Watson prides himself on the one-of-a-kind shopping experience offered at Watson Kennedy and says if everyone else is doing it, he heads in the other direction. “My biggest compliment from a customer is when they say they have never been in a shop quite like mine — then I know I am on the right track.”

Tags: Accessories, decorating, interiors, resource, Seattle, style, vintage
Posted in Ideas and Inspirations | 1 Comment »

In today’s online issue of Fast Company, Michael Cannell asks a critical question of inflential designers. He asked some distinguished design figures to come up with their picks for everyday objects in need of improvement. You can read the entire article here, http://origin-www.fastcompany.com/blog/michael-cannell/cannell/eight-picks-improving-everyday.

I was especially interested in three of them beginning with this one by Maya Lin, designer and artist.

Plastic Furniture
“Plastic lasts forever, so why not create amazing furniture designs that are collectible and made from all of our old plastic bottles and bags?”

Julie Lasky editor of Change Observer, a forthcoming web magazine affiliated with Design Observer.
Wire grocery cart
“Clumsy, child-unfriendly (despite kiddie seats), and hard to pull out of their clumps. I’m sure we can do better.”

Mitchell Owens, executive editor, Elle Décor
Plastic Lids for Take-Out Coffee
“No matter how well-designed such lids appear to the naked eye, they always end up leaking or dribbling when in use; the latter reaction could be a design flaw related to my own mouth, but I don’t believe so.”

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Tags: design, improvements, resource, Seattle
Posted in Ideas and Inspirations | No Comments »

Lampshades like shoes are a dime a dozen, it seems you can find them anywhere. But finding high quality, unique shades is a much more difficult task, except at LiT.

Dawn Bassett and her shop dog Nikki have owned and operated LiT for over a year. Owning LiT is the perfect place for Bassett to combine her background of architectural rendering and her amazing ability and love for fashion and art. What sets LiT apart is providing the buyer with the chance to “build their own” LiTshade through a wide range of textile selections as well as endless size and shape options. Basically LiT’s motto is, “Anything is possible.” With so many options, Bassett has already eased the burden of such choices by carefully selecting which fabric lines and specialty papers she carries in her shop.

Not only are LiTshades beautiful to look at, but they are also earth friendly. Bassett has taken careful consideration of materials used in the making of her shades. Instead of plastic backing she uses only paper backing and water based, non-toxic adhesives. In addition LiT also offers a number of reclaimed, recycled or re-purposed fabrics and papers as well as a wide range of natural fiber textiles like silks and cottons.

LiT is located at 19^th and Prospect, two blocks East of Volunteer Park, and shares its bright beautiful space with innovative wallpaper distributor Hermitage.

Author of this post: Britt Bertolucci

Tags: decorating, Lamp Shades, Lighting, resource, Seattle
Posted in Ideas and Inspirations | No Comments »