My fiancé John is napping when I interrupt him. “How are we going to afford to renovate our apartment and pay for a wedding?” I ask.
“You’re resourceful,” he says. “You’ll think of something.” I’m getting frustrated while paying our monthly bills, and he’s so positive that I just want to pick a fight. But of course, he’s right.
Build It Green! was the solution: a place that I could easily find refurbished, stylish and sophisticated quality materials to help keep down the costs of our reconstruction. Their warehouse is located on 26th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, and boasts 30 to 70 percent off of “new retail prices” for salvaged and surplus goods. Feeling like I had found homeowner heaven, I talked my friend Jane into crossing the Queensboro Bridge on a brisk but sunny April morning.
When we arrive, I’m pleasantly surprised to find the location well organized with rows of doors to my left, appliances to my right and Pergo flooring directly ahead. Excited by the prospect of buying something other than carpeting, I bolt to look at the condition of the pseudo-wood while Jane’s distracted by an antique chest. I continue my treasure hunt and am soon greeted by a wet noise and waggly tail along with her owner, who looks like a member from the cast of “Men in Trees.” The Jack Russell’s companion is Justin Green, the manager of Build It Green!, and his canine companion Lucy’s the locale’s unofficial mascot.
“We aim to keep good materials out of the landfills and keep New York City clean,” Green explains when I ask him what’s up, and he’s clearly passionate about his company, their product and their mission. Half of the garbage in the city is from construction and demolition of buildings, says Green and, with all of the new condos going up and the vast gentrification of areas such as Harlem, there’s a lot of excess resources such as wood and paint that would go into the trash.
Build It Green! provides a constructive alternative to the dump. All of the goods are donated and come from film and television sets, contractors, suppliers and even ordinary people like you and me. The good Samaritans receive a tax credit for the value of their like-new possessions. The savings of not having to manufacture or ship the product is passed on to the customer in the form of a discount, which in most cases is 50 percent off of standard pricing. Build It Green!’s proceeds go to support Solar One, a green energy, arts and education center located on E. 23rd Street and FDR Drive by Stuyvesant Cove Park. Solar One’s mission works to “foster the discussion about our energy and resource use by creating new ways to raise awareness of environmental issues and to provide practical solutions to address those issues.”
“We call this the ‘greenest material’ since there’s low transportation emissions (which is the biggest environmental cost) because the supplies are already here,” says Green. “Also, they aren’t decomposing, which avoids greenhouse gases.”
I ask him where my coveted flooring came from. “These came from a photo shoot for the Pergo Catalog.” They were used for the picture then packed up and brought over to the store.
“How much for these?” I ask Nate Develder, one of the workers. “They’re $30 per box or approximately $1.60 per square foot.” Intrigued, I start making a list of other items. When I pass Jane (now inspecting the inside of an antique box), I notice a new Kohler tub that’s never been used. “The people who donated that where redoing their bathroom and didn’t like the way it looked once it was installed, so they dropped it off here. It goes for about $800, but we’re selling it for $400,” says Develder when he notices my interest. Their standard selection of steel bathtubs sell from $35-$40, cast iron from $50-$125.
“Darn, I wish I knew this was here when I replaced my door.” Jane says, checking out the hollow core doors which go for $7-$15 and solid core doors ($30-$100). “I paid a whole lot more money and the doors are just as nice here as my new one.”
That’s when Jane and I turn and find a green man staring at us. “What’s this?” she asks.
“It’s a kickboxing trainer,” explains Green.
“How does it work? Does it plug in?” Green shrugs.
“Oh well, how much for him?” Jane asks, interested in bringing a man home with her. “Forty dollars.”
“Well, I’d rather have the chest. How much for that?” Jane asks, getting into bargaining mode.
“Sixty-five.”
“What about if I set you up on a date with Marin? How much then?”
Green’s as stunned by the question as I am but manages to come up with, “I don’t think that my girlfriend would appreciate that.”
“How about if I don’t fix you up. Then how much?”
“Fifty … thirty … twenty-five … twenty,” Green splutters.
“Twenty! I’ll take it!” Jane yells. Green gladly carries the trunk out to the car for her.
A bit embarrassed, I examine a kitchen that matches the red of my face. As I look over the cabinets, I stumble upon a tall man with salt and pepper hair investigating a kitchen with nicely-stained cabinetry and stainless steel countertops. Pascal Lewis is a photographer currently working full time on a gut renovation of his brownstone in Harlem. Lewis had been back and forth to Build It Green! for over a year and is there to drop off some wrought iron fencing and a concrete shoot when he found this cooking area. “Parts of this set will definitely work in our home. The design we’re working with is stainless steel,” Lewis explains.
Develder points out that this set was made by German manufacturer Bulthaup and has a market rate of $70,000. They received everything, including the kitchen sink, from a couple that was remodeling a duplex and decided at the last minute not to put in an upstairs kitchen. This never-been-used culinary utopia was rumored to have started a bidding war.
As we meander out, Jane finds a little room off to the right. On the door a sign reads, “Please keep door closed, otherwise heat and small dog will escape.” We entered to find a happy-go-lucky Lucy looking for love. After scratching the pooch behind the ears, I look through the many cans of Benjamin Moore paint that, at $5 a can, make me think, “Let John do it.” Of course, Build It Green! can help.
Build It Green! is located at 3-17 26th Ave., Queens, 718-777-0132, www.bignyc.org.
