The waste itself becomes a burden in the landfill, consuming land and
potentially leaching into soils and groundwater. By deconstructing, you
are also doing your neighbors the very simple favor of extending the
life of your local landfill.
The United States is one of the most consumptive nations on the
planet. According to John Ryan and Alan Durning's book, Stuff: The
Secret Lives of Everyday Things, the average American consumes
about 120 pounds (54 kilograms) of natural resources each day. With
only about 5 percent of the world's population, the United States
consumes about 24 percent of the world's energy. Unbuilding can help
decrease this percentage through the direct reuse of building products.
With a greater realization of the positive effects of greener building
practices, the use of recovered materials is typically rewarded in the
many green building certification programs that have appeared in
recent years.
Organizations such as the U.S. Green Building Council, the National
Association of Home Builders, and the National Association of the
Remodeling Industry have all developed green programs for use by
the commercial and the residential building markets.
