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Please note that ReBuild WILL BE OPEN on Easter Sunday, April 4th, at our regular time from noon-5 pm.
Also, please take note of our new extended hours.
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| ReBuild Information |
Visit: 6625-B IronPlace
Springfield, VA 22151
Call: 703.658.8840
Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Thursday:9-4
Friday: 9-3
Saturday: 9-5
Sunday: 12-5 |
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Dear ReBuild Friends,
All of the ReBuild staff is glad the snow and cold weather is behind us and the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom. Winter took a toll on our Warehouse sales, a key source of funding for our programs, and we are anxiously looking forward to spring when peoples' attention turns to spring cleaning, home renovation and house projects. As you clean out your basement, attic, garage, or backyard and run across good used building materials, appliances, etc. consider donating these to ReBuild. Not only will you ensure that these materials avoid a landfill and find a good "second" home, you will earn a tax deduction in the process. Likewise, as you think about your renovation or house project, check us out at ReBuild for quality, reclaimed materials that can save you money and reduce your carbon footprint from buying materials brand new.
On March 27th ReBuild celebrated its first anniversary - no small feat for a start-up nonprofit in today's economic environment. One of our key goals this year is to strengthen our core program - recruiting and training "hard-to-place" workers in emerging "green collar" jobs. We are building relationships with other community nonprofit organizations and local government agencies to identify and refer candidates to our program and to assist us in finding full-time employment for workers once accepted and trained through ReBuild.
We need your help! If you have suggestions for program partners, potential "green collar" employers, or folks we should reach out to as we grow, drop us an email and share your thoughts. If you are able to volunteer your time, either with our job training program or in the ReBuild Warehouse, we welcome your skills and talents to further our mission in the community.
We also need your support. If you are able to make a tax-deductible contribution to ReBuild, we invite you to make your secure online donation today by going to the ReBuild website and click on the donation button (www.reuildwarehouse.org). As a community organization, ReBuild relies on the generosity of individuals, local foundations, small business, and the sales from our Warehouse to fund our programs. As already noted, Warehouse sales suffered significantly in January and February following the historic snowstorms. Right now your gift, in any amount, will make a tremendous difference to ReBuild as we bridge the funding challenges of this past winter. We thank you in advance for your contribution.
As always, please don't hesitate to contact either of us for information about our program services and ways to get more deeply involved in ReBuild's mission of "rebuilding lives and communities together." We look forward to hearing from you!
Paul S. Hughes Daryl Spencer
Executive Director President
P.S. Later in this edition you can read "How Does My Donation Make a Difference?" to better understand what our programs cost, and why your support is so critically needed. |
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April Sales at the Warehouse |
 Thursday, April 1st - Sunday, April 4th
April Fool's Sale (no fooling)
This is no joke. We will have quality items in each department priced with discounts starting at 20% off and going as high as 75% off. Come early to make sure you can get the items you want.
Thursday, April 15th - Sunday April 18th
Tax Refund Blowout Sale
Leverage your hard-earned tax rebate or tax savings to purchase used building materials discounted to a fraction of normal retail prices. That way you're benefiting TWICE on the taxes you save!! More details to come in our weekly flyer.
Thursday, April 22nd - Sunday, April 25
 Earth Day Celebration Sale
As you reflect on your family's carbon footprint and "living more lightly on the Earth", consider which projects you have that can used reclaimed material, rather than buying new, as a way of preserving the Earth's natural resources and reducing the amount of carbon dioxide creating in manufacturing them. More details to come in our weekly flyer. |
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ReBuild & Community Events This Month! |
| (Stop by our table or booth and say "hi" or come to one of our workshops - we'd love to meet you!)
Saturday, April 10th, 10am-4pm
3rd Annual Arlington County Home Show & Expo. A free family event featuring over 50 exhibitors of home improvement products and services offering advice and workshops on ways to make your home and yard more liveable. The first 200 attendees receive a free energy efficient fluorescent light bulb. Sponsored by Arlington County and the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization (CPRO). Location: Walter Reed Community Center, 2909 16th Street South, Arlington, VA. For more information, call 703-228-3765, or 703-892-2776.
Saturday, April 17th, 11 pm
ReBuild Warehouse Workshop. "Designing Exterior Spaces Utilizing Architectural Salvage". Take a quick tour of the warehouse with Bobby Croghan to see how you can utilize unique architectural salvage pieces to enhance your landscape and improve your impact on the environment. CROGS LC guides businesses and homeowners in lowering their environmental footprint through strategies that will enrich their lives and surroundings. Its owner, Bobby Croghan, also enjoys designing landscapes with the environment in mind! Location: 6625 Iron Place, Springfield, VA 22151. Thursday, April 22nd, 10 am - 2 pm
National Science Foundation. Earth Day Celebration & Expo. National Science Foundation sponsored event featuring over 20 exhibitors dealing with such issues as sustainability and "Going Green" at NSF offices and in the community. Location: Stafford One, Ground Level Atrium, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230. For information, call 703/292-7563 or e-mail jspeers@nsf.gov.
Thursday, April 22nd, 7 pm - 9 pm
Vienna Green Expo at the Vienna Community Center presenting practical information & demonstrations to help you make green choices! Great ideas that can save you money & help the environment! Featuring energy efficiency tips, purchasing local organic products, creating green gardens, recycling options, and much more! Location: 120 Cherry Street SE, Vienna, VA 22180. For information, call 703-255-6360 or 703-255-6360.
Saturday, April 24th, 11pm
ReBuild Warehouse Workshop. Join Master Gardener Julie K. Speers, to learn how you can grow "Pretty Pollinator Plants". These are native and noninvasive ornamental plants that bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love. Loss of habitat and increased use of pesticides have contributed to the precipitous drop in numbers for these species. Learn how you can help them recover. Location: 6625 Iron Place, Springfield, VA 22151.
Saturday, April 24th, 10 am - 2 pm
City of Alexandria's Annual Earth Day Celebration. This year's theme is "Teach-Learn-Live Green" featuring competition among Alexandria's public schools in such areas as curriculum, facility management practices, and extracurricular activities. Location: Ben Brenman Park, 500 Duke St., Alexandria. Details: Open to the public at no charge.
Saturday, April 24, 10 am - 4 pm (drop-off times)
ReBuild Warehouse, "Raise Green for Diabetes" during ReBuild's 1st Recycle Weekend Event. By donating your aluminum cans, you can help the environment and raise money for the American Diabetes Association. Start saving your aluminum cans today!! Location: 6625 Iron Place, Springfield, VA 22151.
Saturday, April 24th, 10 am - 2 pm
Fairfax County's Earth Day/Arbor Day Celebration. A free family-friendly event featuring a living rainforest, petting zoo, balloon artist, climbing wall, scavenger hunt, face painting, and craft workshop with colorful, fun recycled materials. Entertainment for children scheduled throughout the day. A variety of exhibitors will provide information and demonstrate gardening techniques. Location: Annandale Campus of Northern Virginia Community College, 8333 Little River Turnpike in Annandale about 1 mile outside the Beltway.
Sunday, April 25th, Noon - 5 pm (drop-off times)
ReBuild Warehouse, "Raise Green for Diabetes" during ReBuild's 1st Recycle Weekend Event. By donating your aluminum cans, you can help the environment and raise money for the American Diabetes Association. Start saving your aluminum cans today!! Location: 6625 Iron Place, Springfield, VA 22151.
Sunday, April 25th, 1 pm
Residential Energy Audit Demonstration & House Tour. Hunt Anderson is graciously making his home in the Annandale area available as a demonstration site for an energy audit to be performed by Larry Brown, Green Homes, LLC. Hunt won the free audit in a raffle at a ReBuild home weatherization workshop in December and wants to expose more people to the value of obtaining an energy audit as the first step in making their own homes more comfortable while saving money and energy. For details, contact Larry at 703622-1554. | |
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| Other Community Events of Interest |
Friday, April 2nd (first Fridays) at 6-10 pm
UDC Justice Café.Join representatives of environmental and social justice activists and organizations and their supporters at the UDC Justice Café hosted by the University of the District of Columbia David Clarke School of Law, the District's public interest law school. If you are passionate about social justice and/or the environment and want to connect, learn, and have fun with others like you - join us. Wheelchair Accessible. Featuring food, music, poetry, beer, an open mic session, tabling and more. Location: Firebird Inn Building 39, B-Level, 4200 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008. Just above the Van Ness UDC Metro Station (Red line) Campus Map: http://www.facebook.com/l/89258;www.udc.edu/campus_map.htm, Suggested donation $15 / $10 students / $5 kids. All ages welcome with child activities provided. Contact Mike: mikehersh@mikehersh.com or Joe: JFL@udc.edu. For a FREE TABLE contact Mike: mikehersh@mikehersh.com or Marie: Marie@Earthrights.org.
Saturday, April 10th, 9:30-11:30 am
Multiplying Garden Treasures: Division
Fill your garden with perennials, grasses and bulbs without emptying your pockets. Mary Frogale, staff horticulturalist, will demonstrate how to use hatchets, pruning knives and garden forks to lift, split, and divide single plants into many divisions. Take them home and add them to your gardens! Location: Green Spring Gardens Park, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA 22312. $22.
Monday, April 12th, 10:30am-4 pm
Tilling One's Soil - Cultivating One's Soul
Jeanne B. Evans, a licensed professional counselor, marriage and family therapist and gardener, invites you to make space in your life for cultivating your own interior landscape. You'll "dig" into your interior landscape and cultivate your inner terrain as you spend a day "reading" nature and resting in its comforting embrace. Please bring your own lunch. Green Spring Gardens Park, Location: 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA 22312. $40.
Thursday, April 15th, 8:30 am-11:30 am
Green Building Outlook-2010 and Beyond. VSBN's "Build Green Virginia" Spring event. Featured speaker: Michele Russo, McGraw-Hill Construction. In collaboration with the Sustainability Office of George Mason University. Fairfax, VA. For more information, contact: Annette Osso, VSBN, osso@vsbn.org or www.vsbn.org.
Saturday, April 17th
EcoSymposium on Sustainability-Ward 7. Idea Public Charter School, Washington, DC. Organized by Capitol Business Solutions, with support from VSBN, Office Go Green, and USGBC-NCR. This event, which takes place in each DC Ward, will focus on "Green Ward, Green Life." The event is a Ward specific series of speakers delivering information to constituents and businesses on topics related to energy efficiency, grant programs, and training organizations in order to share knowledge and information with each specific community. For more information, contact: The EcoTeam at info@capitolbusinesssolutions.com.
Saturday, April 17th, 9:30-11 am
Eco Friendly Gardening
What better place to go green than in your garden? Brenda Skarphol, Green Spring's curatorial horticulturalist demonstrates ways to practice environmentally friendly gardening techniques to improve your soil, the growth of your plants, water consumption and more all while maintaining a beautiful landscape. Location: Green Spring Gardens Park, 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA 22312. $14.
Tuesday, April 20th (third Tuesdays), 6-8 pm
VA Green Drinks monthly networking meeting held at the Vienna Inn, 120 Maple Ave E., Vienna, VA. Contact novagreendrinks@gmail.com or call Lauren at 804-335-0915 or 804-335-0915.
Thursday, April 22nd, 40th Earth Day Celebration
Green Spring Gardens Park. Location: 4603 Green Spring Road, Alexandria, VA 22312.
1:30-2:30pm. Basic Gardening: Gardening for Butterflies
1-2:30pm. Earth Day Walk and Talk with a Gardener
Walk and Talk only, 1-2:30pm. $12
Walk and Talk + Tea, 1-3:30pm. $32.
Sunday, April 25th
The Climate Rally - National Mall - Earth Day 2010. Location will be on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
Sunday, Apr 25th, 10 am - 3 pm
Electric Sunday. Fairfax County invites residents to recycle televisions, computers, monitors, and peripheral electronic devices such as printers, scanners, speakers, keyboards, mice, and external drives. In addition, residents may recycle unbroken fluorescent tubes and light bulbs at this event. Free service for Fairfax County residents. Event is sponsored by Fairfax County in partnership with Covanta Energy, Inc. Collection points at I-66 Transfer Station 4618 West Ox Road, Fairfax or I-95 Landfill Complex in Lorton. 703-324-5230 or 703-324-5230.
If your nonprofit organization or government agency is planning a event pertaining to environmental stewardship or sustainable development and would like to list your event in this section, please forward the pertinent information to Paul Hughes, phughes1@cox.net by the close of business on the 3rd Friday of the month prior to the event. |
| ReBuild Upcoming Events |
Rebuild's mission is about community environmental sustainability
That's why we want, not only to be your source for quality reusable building materials, but a source for broader sustainability living, both inside and outside your home. For instance, we want to help folks interested in shrinking their ecological footprint to easily learn ways for doing so that don't "cost an arm and a leg". We're interested in getting speakers and having workshops on issues ranging from how to do your own home repairs and how to benefit from government incentives to build or renovate "green" to how to raise more of your own food, clean your house with non-toxic natural products and where and why it's important to buy locally-grown food. Other potential envirnonmentally-related workshops or talks might include: How to refinish your kitchen cabinets? How to lay kitchen and bathroom tile? Or how to reglaze a worn or chipped porcelain bathtub or sink? Or all about growing backyard plants for bees, birds and butterflies? And even starting neighborhood gardening?
Please Send Us Your Ideas:
What types of other environmentally-related workshops or activities would you like to see at the warehouse? We would love to hear your ideas! Please send us an email. |
| Volunteer Opportunities |
As the volume of ReBuild warehouse sales grows and we begin expanding our "green collar" worker training program, our need for volunteers increases as well. People often ask us how they can volunteer but cannot handle moving of heavy items. The number of ways might surprise you. They include:
- Greeter or cashier in the warehouse
- Staffing an exhibit at a community event
- Donating used building material
- Becoming a regular customer and recommending ReBuild to your friends
- Writing an article about ReBuild in your neighborhood newsletter
- Provide a workshop on some aspect of environmental sustainability
- Hosting a fundraising party or helping with such an event
- Donating office supplies, equipment or tools.
To make a donation, go to the ReBuild website (www.rebuildwarehouse.org) to our secure online giving page. For material donations, call the warehouse, 703-658-8840, or email us with photos and a general description of your items. If you drop off the items, please do so ONLY during store hours.
Come meet new friends and become a part of this exciting venture!
Did we mention that volunteers also earn store credit for each hour worked?
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| Donate |
How Does My Donation Make A Difference?
The recession has compelled us all to make difficult decisions about where to invest our limited charitable dollars. At ReBuild Warehouse, we work to change the lives of those who are at the margins of our community. By providing skills training, on-the-job experience, placement assistance, and support, we are helping to build economically secure individuals and families, all while powering the "green collar" workforce of the future.
Here are a few examples of what it costs to run our programs:
- $300 pays for a basic 3-day course in home weatherization.
- $250 pays for a 1-day class in proper handling of lead-based paint to become a certified renovator, as per new 2010 EPA requirements.
- $500 pays for a 26-week evening course leading to a certified pesticide applicator's license needed for treating and eradicating invasive plant species.
- $1,595 pays for a 3-day classroom, 2-day hands-on training course and testing for an individual to become a Building Performance Institute (BPI) certified home energy rating system (HERS) auditor.
- $1,100 pays for a 3-day photovoltaic entry level certification preparation course providing basic level electrical knowledge and general understanding of photovoltaics sponsored by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).
Your tax-deductible donation - in any amount - can make a tremendous difference in the number of individuals we are able to help. You can make your secure online donation right now by going to the ReBuild website (www.rebuildwarehouse.org) and clicking on the donation button. |
| ReBuild Partners |
ReBuild is grateful for the ongoing support we receive from our local and metro business and nonprofit partners. They donate their time, provide referrals, drop off quality items for resale, donate equipment, provide advertising venues, and provide us with ideas for improving our operations. Small, locally-based businesses and nonprofits are the foundation of an economically self-reliant and environmentally sustainable community.
If your company or organization is interested in partnering with ReBuild, contact Paul Hughes, 703-280-1719. See our website (www.rebuildwarehouse.org) for a full listing of our local and metro partners.
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| Eco-Tip |
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A study by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) in 2009 found that the recession was contributing to higher levels of air pollution in the Washington area as new car sales plummet and older, dirtier vehicles remain on the road longer. Staff researchers found that vehicles on the road in the Washington area were an average of six months older than they were in 2005. The increase, from about 7.9 to 8.4 years, will be enough to push the region perilously close to violating its limits for traffic-related pollution, according to the study.
Tailpipe emissions in 2010 were projected to be as much as 7.5% higher than projected in forecasts conducted in 2008. Aging vehicles are predicted to cause increased emissions even as motorists are expected to cut their driving by 2.5%, in part because of higher unemployment. This is at odds with a basic tenet of transportation planning, that tailpipe emissions drop when people drive less. The region is not expected to exceed its Clean Air Act limits for traffic-related pollutants in 2010, but only by a very narrow margin.
The number of hybrid vehicles in the area jumped to 41,729 in 2008 from 11,843 in 2005, but they still make up a minuscule percentage of the overall fleet. Hybrids account for 1.5% of vehicles on Northern Virginia and District roads and 0.8% on roads in the Maryland suburbs, according to the COG analysis. Katherine Shaver, "Older Cars Fouling Region's Air Quality", Washington Post, July 4, 2009, Metro Section, p.B2.
Obviously, plenty to ponder as we celebrate Earth Day 2010 as well as plenty of opportunities for improvement in our custodianship of our planet. Thanks you for your continuous support for The ReBuild Warehouse and its sustainable community mission. | |
Thank you for your continuous support of ReBuild and its environmental goals.
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Paul S. Hughes Daryl Spencer
Executive Director President
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