Amplify Reuse
Around here, giving things another life comes pretty naturally.
We salvage old doors and lumber. Repair bikes, lamps, appliances, and furniture. Share tools with neighbors. Turn scraps into art. Pass along what we no longer need and find creative uses for things that still have plenty of life left in them.
Across our region, an entire sector of nonprofits, businesses, makers, repairers, recyclers, educators, and advocates is working every day to keep useful things useful.
The more visible and connected that sector becomes, the more powerful reuse becomes.
Make Some Noise for Reuse
For nearly 30 years, the ReBuilding Center has been part of that story, keeping building materials in circulation and making them accessible to the community.
But we're one piece of a much bigger reuse landscape.
There are organizations repairing what is broken, sharing tools, redistributing furniture and supplies, recycling electronics, transforming discarded materials into art, and advocating for smarter ways to manage the resources our communities already have.
No one needs to do it all.
We need to know who does what and help people find them.
If something doesn't belong at the ReBuilding Center, maybe we know where it does. If it can be repaired instead of replaced, let's connect people with someone who can fix it. If another organization has the expertise or resources someone needs, let's send them there.
Every connection creates another opportunity to keep something in motion.
Look Around Your Own Community
Reuse doesn't begin at the recycling bin. It begins much earlier.
Before the dumpster, could those materials be salvaged?
Before buying new, can you find it used?
Before replacing it, can it be repaired?
Before throwing it away, could someone else use exactly what you have?
Here in the Portland region, there are remarkable organizations built around answering those questions.
And this fall, we're bringing some of them together.
The Reuse Community Takes the Spotlight
On Thursday, October 8, from 4 to 7 p.m., the ReBuilding Center will welcome 10 partner organizations for our ReUse Open House.
Together, they represent different corners of our local reuse sector, including building materials, repair, furniture, creative reuse, school and pet supplies, electronics recycling, resource recovery, and policy advocacy.
Come find a resource you didn't know existed. Meet the people behind the work. Discover another place to donate, repair, shop, volunteer, create, or pass something along.
And stay for the party.
We'll have community art making, music, food and beverages, family friendly activities, photos with RBC icon Ella Rose, the Salvage Showdown reuse furniture auction, and Little Library raffles.
One evening can't capture everything happening across our region's reuse sector.
But it can shine a brighter light on what's already here.
Know your reuse community. Support it. Share it. Amplify it.
Because the more people who know what's possible, the more we can keep in motion.