apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

There's a whole slew of building materials reuse centers here:

http://www.buildingreuse.org/directory/california

Have you called GLIDE? I had some shelving that needed to be dismantled and taken out of my house and they said they could use, so a few volunteers came over took this HUGE shelving system apart and took it to Glide's office. It was great and tax deductible too!

glide.org

Try contacting a local school or after-school program. My sister is an elementary school teacher and is always on the lookout for carpet squares. The kids sit on them during quite reading time or when they have their class "meetings."

when we ripped out all our carpet to put in wood floors, I hated to think of it all sitting in a landfill. It was in good condition(some of it looked new). I put it on my local freecycle thinking no one would want it, and had dozens of people who responded. People who wanted it for their houses, basements, etc. I was thrilled to get rid of it (for free! - for large item pickup where I live you have to pay extra) and that someone could use it.

Habitat for Humanity

SF: http://www.sfcarpetrecycling.com/

found that at http://www.carpetrecovery.org/

We donated ours to Habitat for Humanity, too. If you can convince the builder not to put it in and just leave the carpet and padding in a roll, it's even better... for everyone!

You know who else would probably appreciate carpet would be an animal shelter. They are always on the lookout for old towels and carpet as long as it's in good shape!