Women And Reuse!

Greetings Reuse Fans,

I wanted to draw your attention to an excellent article in Smithsonian Magazine entitled “How Women Are Leading the Charge to Recycle Whole Houses“. The article highlights the critically important role that women have played in the development of reuse nonprofits like Construction Junction across the country. Building material reuse is a strongly values-based endeavor with its feet firmly planted in its positive environmental impact, but also its commitment to social causes, such as support for populations with barriers to employment. As a whole, the operations highlighted in the article are deeply committed to forming partnership that create value not just from salvaged materials, but people and even entire communities that have been “passed over” or seen as “disposable”. Perhaps this ethic has attracted more women to the field of building material reuse than outside observers might expect. The article touches on these ideas.

Of course, articles like this one, immediately made me think of the women who work at CJ and serve on its Board of Directors. When I forwarded the article to Missy Mongelli, our COO/General Manager her response was “It makes me proud to be a part of this industry”. Of CJ’s 20 member Board of Directors, 45% are women, including our current, committed Board President, Alexis Miller. Diversity will always be a priority for CJ.

I hope you will read the article. I hope the article inspires you to think about what the world would look like with more reuse in it!

If you want to do more to support reuse nation-wide please contribute now to the Build Reuse Fundly campaign. Joe Connell, Executive Director of Build Reuse is quoted extensively in the Smithsonian article. The original executive director of Build Reuse, formerly the Building Material Reuse Association, was Anne Nicklin, also mentioned in the article.