Forklift project promotes home improvement

Allison Pasek⁄The Gazette. Community Forklift employees Ruthie Mundell and John Zydler move a mantle piece from a deconstructed home into the company’s warehouse in Edmonston. CF sells everything from lumber and hardwood flooring to appliance and furniture.

The Sustainable Communities Institute, in particular Jim Schulman, worked very hard for many years to bring this about. This article from the Gazette Newspapers describes the program thusly:

The project has been established in Edmonston with the aim of making renovation of homes more affordable to low-income residents and keeping reusable items out of the waste stream. Area property managers, construction companies and the nonprofit Sustainable Community Initiatives are among supporters of the project that opened Nov. 17.

The forklift is at 4671 Tanglewood Drive and is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday to Saturday or available by appointment by calling 301-985-5180.

‘‘We receive donations from people or businesses that would normally dispose of [materials] in a landfill and we actually save property owners money in waste hauling,” said Jim Schulman, head of the project, who described the forklift as a mission of community revitalization. ‘‘We then sell the items at half or less than half the cost of virgin materials. Also, the local government would have less materials to pick for dumping, so it’s a win-win-win situation,” Schulman said.

Read the article for more. (I am on the board, but haven't been pulling my weight as of late...)

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