A message from our new Executive
When I first walked through the ReBuilding Center, I felt something electric in the air—a hum of creativity, possibility, and purpose woven through every salvaged door, reclaimed beam, and shared conversation in the aisles. It wasn’t just a store. It was a living demonstration of what a circular economy looks like when a community chooses to reuse, repair, and reimagine together.
Today, I’m honored to step into the role of Executive Director of this beloved organization—one that has been keeping materials, stories, and opportunities in circulation for more than 25 years.
In my two decades of nonprofit leadership, I’ve always been drawn to the kind of work that asks us to look closely at what we already have—within us and around us—and imagine what might be possible if we use it differently. That is the essence of the circular economy: designing systems that restore rather than extract, repairing rather than replacing, and valuing people as deeply as we value the materials in our hands.
And here in Portland, the circular economy isn’t just an idea. It’s our heritage.
Portland has long been home to a network of reuse stores, salvage yards, tool libraries, repair cafés, makerspaces, and community workshops. Long before “circularity” became a global buzzword, our neighbors were reclaiming wood from old houses, salvaging hardware, fixing broken chairs, and helping one another build something new from what already existed.
What is new is the urgency.
Climate justice now begins at the neighborhood level.
Repair skills help people stay safely in their homes.
Nearly 30% of Portland’s landfill waste comes from construction and demolition alone.
And every cabinet, 2x4, window, or fixture we keep in circulation reduces carbon emissions and expands access to affordable materials for someone else.
Reuse is climate action you can hold in your hands.
Every time a homeowner salvages instead of replaces, emissions drop.
Every time someone patches drywall instead of buying new, carbon stays out of the atmosphere.
Every time you donate something usable, you extend the life and story of materials that are already here.
At the ReBuilding Center, our role is to make those choices easier, more accessible, and more joyful. Through our retail store, education programs, salvage services, and community partnerships, we’re working to strengthen the circular economy that Portland was built for.
As I begin this next chapter, I’m excited to work alongside our dedicated staff, board, volunteers, and partners to deepen our impact—expanding our education programs, strengthening retail operations, growing workforce development opportunities, and helping Portland reclaim its leadership in the national conversation about reuse, repair, and resilience.
But most of all:
I’m here to help rally our community.
Because the future of Portland’s sustainability story won’t be defined only by policy or infrastructure. It will be shaped by the choices we make in our homes, garages, workshops, and neighborhoods—what we choose to reuse, repair, and reimagine together.
Here’s where each of us can start:
Before you toss something, ask if someone else could use it.
Before you buy new, look for reclaimed.
Fix one thing you would normally replace.
Donate materials that still have life in them.
And create something new from what you already have.
This is climate work that doesn’t require a grant, a task force, or a new tax.
It requires attention, creativity, generosity—and a little bit of Portland’s original spirit.
Thank you for welcoming me into this community.
Together, we can build the next chapter of Portland’s climate story—one salvaged piece, one repaired item, and one creative idea at a time.
— Debra Vanderwerf
Executive Director, ReBuilding Center