Repurposing materials has become so popular that businesses that store and sell recycled materials are nearly ubiquitous. Damon Carson’s reused Materials is one such company that gives materials a second chance.
“It’s all about keeping a byproduct or waste stream out of the landfill,” said Carson, who founded his company in 2010 after working in the garbage industry for years. “How much good stuff being thrown away in America always amazed me,” he remarked.
During the Great Depression, many farm families recycled what they had, even in their homes, by following the maxim “repair, reuse, make do, and don’t throw anything away.” Children frequently wore clothing made from discarded animal feed sacks. Because of the popularity of this trend, several feed company owners began printing patterns on the sacks.
Carson now has warehouses in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Iowa, and South Carolina, all of which are full of salvaged or surplus items waiting to be repurposed.
“Aside from keeping things out of landfills, the major benefit of repurposing materials is the cost,” Lostroh noted. “It’s a cost-effective way of doing things, and there are a lot of really robust products that were designed for other industries that are no longer viable for that, but for ranchers and farmers, they’re still excellent and durable materials that can last a long time.”