Facility conserves materials, money

When you want a used bookshelf or pair of jeans, you go to Savers or maybe cruise the local yard-sale scene. When you need a used car, there are plenty of knowledgeable dealers around. But where do you go when you want to pick up some reclaimed lumber? Or a recycled door? Or, if you’re lucky, a claw-footed bathtub?

That’s when you go to the ReSource Yard, a truly Boulder institution that has inspired imitations across the state.

Founded in 1996, the yard is a part of the Center for ReSource Conservation (CRC), a Boulder-based nonprofit organization focused on conserving natural resources. The yard takes donations of used building material, certain appliances and fixtures, and then sells them well below retail prices. When a building is being renovated or demolished, almost everything in it can be donated to ReSource and resold, saving space in local landfills and helping to make good use of resources that have already been extracted from the environment.

Mark Bowen, part of the sales staff at the yard, explains that prices run about half that of retail because items are sold based on what the physical material is worth without having to pay a middleman. That translates to pretty big savings for someone looking to spruce up his or her home. A lucky shopper can find granite sinks, boxes of flooring tile, shelving and wide selection of doors and windows, to name just a few. The inventory changes every day, so shopping at the yard is an adventure, as well as a bargain.
The yard has come a long way from its humble beginnings, however.

“It started with a guy and a pile of materials,” says Shaun LaBarre, the current director of ReSource.

Formerly located on 63rd Street, ReSource was once little more than an unpaved lot with a portable toilet — not the most comfortable situation for customers or employees.

“It was a temporary site for 13-and-a-half years,” says Bowen, who began working at ReSource shortly after it first opened.
Now the yard has more permanent — and more comfortable — facilities on Arapahoe Road.

“Something we’ve been saying for a while is we want to attract people who wear high heels,” LaBarre says.

That wouldn’t have been too likely at the old location, which was largely dirt. Now, in addition to the dedicated DIYers who make up the core of their customer base, ReSource Yard also attracts casual bargain hunters, artists searching for unique materials and those simply curious about what the yard has to offer. LaBarre says the new location makes it a “more shoppable experience.”

And that certainly seems to be the case. Thanks to their new, more visible location and much-improved facilities, Bowen says ReSource now gets five to 15 new customers each week, and regular customers are coming in more often, as well.

In addition to providing funding for the CRC’s different education and outreach programs, the ReSource Yard also has another directive: reduce waste.

“Landfill diversion,” Bowen says, “That’s what ReSource Yard is all about.”
To encourage homeowners to donate instead of dump, tax incentives are available for donations. A typical single-family home, he says, can garner a few thousand dollars’ worth of tax deductions when it is deconstructed and the reusable material is given to ReSource. The highest deduction he can recall is $100,000 for a luxury residence, though he stresses that that is an unusual case.

So next time you’re looking to get rid of some old cabinets or pick up a new-to-you countertop, stop by the ReSource Yard and help the environment in more ways than one.

The ReSource Yard is located at 6400 Arapahoe Rd., and is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A Fort Collins branch of ReSource Yard opened in 2006 at 1501 N. College Ave., and is open from Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit www.resourceyard.org.

Respond: info@boulderganic.com

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