Question: People ask us . . . Why Do You Do What You Do? (WDYDWYD?)
Answer 1: Jobs!
We’re committed to creating local and green jobs for the Buffalo community. More importantly, we feel these jobs should leverage the waste in our society to create opportunity. We’re interested in a critical analysis of our economy to identify wasteful business practices that damage our communities and our environment, and opportunities that exist for new ventures. We’re determined to find solutions and to implement alternatives that put people to work.
Answer 2: Innovation!
As we look at the world, we see so much that has failed, so much that pollutes and wastes, and so much that just doesn’t make sense. We often ask, “Isn’t there a better way? Has anyone tried something differently and made it work? Can’t we do the right thing for workers, the environment, and communities AND create a modest profit? There are ways and the answers can be found through collectively innovating and acting?”
Answer 3: Training!
We value our role as mentors for young people in our community. We encourage our mentors to not only be good employees with a diligent work ethic and strong skills, but also good people driven by their own interests and passions and committed to service.
Answer 4: Education!
We’re interested in creating and promoting a dialogue. We’re committed to building the reuse industry so that others can benefit from the opportunity of material reuse. We advise and consult with not for profits and municipalities, community leaders and businesses to ensure opportunity is harvested from unwanted structures. Our blog communicates ideas and information we feel is critical to educating the community, promoting more responsible behavior, and expanding the industry of material recycling.
Answer 5: Ecological Stewardship!
Our work as green demolition contractors was born out of the wastefulness of traditional demolition. We shared a growing concern about the material filling our local landfills; the growing environmental destruction that accompanies the logging industry, the source of “new lumber”; and the behavior of many businesses that fails to recognize environmental clean-up and responsibility as a cost of doing business.
Answer 6: Community Building!
We value relationships. We intend, through our work, to bring people together. We focus our work in the MidCity neighborhood, where we plan to be very active with rehabilitation and creative use of green spaces. We believe through collaboration, creativity, and hard work we can rebuild, reinvent, and reimagine a future for our community and create a net positive ecological, economic, and social benefit for everyone who lives and works in the Mid City community.
All photos by Caesandra Seawell, except for photo number 4 (Tree Planting) by Natalie Marino. All Rights Reserved.