Spring Cleaning An Office Building With Community Forklift

We love to get donations of windowsIt is hard enough to spring clean your basement at home.  Imagine trying to clear the basement of your office building!

That is exactly what Great Forest helps clients do each spring. Recently, we were at First Potomac’s TenThreeTwenty property in Columbia, MD, sorting through items left in the basement and in tenant storage lockers.

We found a variety of assorted items, from paint and ink cartridges to leftover renovation materials including doors and sheet rock.

Paying for the proper removal of these items can add up.  In this case, the cost was an estimated $4000. And this did not guarantee that the items would not end up in a landfill.

So Great Forest consultant Kevin McNab started looking for a better solution. He started looking to make that connection — between those trying to get rid of items and those needing items. And he found it in Community Forklift, a nonprofit reuse center that offers free pickup service throughout the D.C. metro region.

At any given time, Community Forklift has about 1,500 modern & vintage doors in stock (photo by Peggy Bair)Kevin arranged for Community Forklift to visit the property to assess the items.  They returned later that week to collect four cases of ink cartridges, sheet rock, a number of interior and exterior doors, 12 cases of air filters, about 100 gallons of paint and various other items.

By making the connection between the building and Community Forklift, we were able to help the property lower their waste fees. More importantly, the property was able to reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill.

Looking to make a connection?  Check out our donation assistance page to see if there is an organization near you. We update this page regularly so let us know of reuse organizations we can add to the list.

If you are in the D.C. region, Community Forklift accepts a variety of items including old cabinets, appliances, lumber and other leftover building materials. The items are sold at their warehouse thrift store and also distributed free to community groups & families in need.

Photographs: Gregory Mitchell

Related:

checking out the surplus paintWe accept wrought iron fencing and gates, as well as security bars for windows and doors

Half of the warehouse (photo by Edward Jackson)

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