We enjoy any excuse to celebrate with good food, good music and soaking our friends. In honor of Elvis Week, we are constructing a DUNK TANK and we’ll give you the opportunity to come and dunk Elvis and some assorted friends! We’ll also enjoy some Elvis tunes and one of Elvis’s favorite meals—grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches! Come out for a chance to soak one of us or some of the local favorites listed below. Why Free Henry when you could Dunk Henry!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

12:00pm – 4:00pm

The ReSource, 298 Northampton Street, Buffalo, NY

Here is our ROSTER of dunkees so far:

• Free Henry!
• Joe Moran as Elvis (he’s Prish’s son)
• Ross Cellino—of …Cellino & Barnes—for realz!
• Comedienne, Kristen Becker
• Josh Potter from 103.3 The Edge
• Newell Nussbaumer of Buffalo Rising
• Comedian & Poet, Josh Smith
• NY Assembly Member, Sam Hoyt
• Danielle OBrien of Queen City Roller Girls
• Michael Gainer
• Peter Grine
• Tim Allen
• Brad Kujawski
• Sherry Burns—of the Do Good Duo & WGRZ Producer!
• Sally Panepento—of WGRZ
• Caesandra
• Chris Smith—of WNYMedia
• Whitney Crispell
• Cheryl Bird (she said “maybe”–let’s get her to say YES)

This just like every other event, all proceeds benefit our Community Programs which includes the Tool Library, free DIY home repair and gardening workshops, the veggie gardens, and neighborhood beautification projects.

I just thought i’d share with all of you this ReSourceful Project that one of our loyal supporters came up with.

In it the Kancar family used a mantle that was purchased from our ReSource and built a spectacular wall around it as you can see from the pictures below.  They are in order of the steps that happened.  The first one is just a picture of the mantel while it was in the ReSource.  The last picture is the final piece.

I would like to be able to consistently share projects like this that were tackled with materials that have come from the ReSource.  Anytime you make something out of materials from our store I would like to hear all about it! You can email me at scott {at} buffaloreuse(.)org.  I will then post these neat and creative projects on our blog for all to see regularly.

I also encourage you to check out the families website, Czar of the Woods Farm to find out more about this project.

This upcoming Saturday, the 17th of July,  Kenmore residents are encouraged to drop off reusable materials, such as appliances, windows and doors at a Buffalo ReUse truck situated near the Kenmore municipal building at Delaware Avenue and Delaware Road.  It should also be noted that all donations are tax deductible.

For a list of items that we accept check out the  donate material section of our website.

We are also always continuing  to add to our inventory within our tool lending library, so if you have any tools laying around, bring them on down.

For a list of  tools that we are in need of check out the  donate tool section of our tool library website.

Rather than being thrown out, the items will be taken to either our Buffalo ReUse store on Northampton Street in Buffalo, which resells high quality building materials to home owners at a low cost, or inventoried into our tool library that is located on Eaton Street.

This will be the second of five Saturday drop-offs that have been scheduled in conjunction with the Kenmore Farmers’ Market.  They will be held from 9 a.m. to noon.   Mark your calenders with the remaining three Saturdays.  Aug. 21, Sept. 18 and Oct. 16. Ours is!

By donating your materials or tools to us you are allowing us to move forward with our mission.  The money generated from the store’s sales helps fund some of our other programs, including the community gardens and our deconstruction and salvaging teams.

Come out this weekend, July 10th and 11th for our two day workshop!

Day one. digging and leveling the ground. 10am start
Day two. installation of paver’s. 12pm start

Come out this weekend and help us make a patio in our yard at the ReSource.

We will spread the work out over two days so we have an adequate amount of time and energy to transform our yard into a relaxing oasis.

Over the weekend you will be able to lend a hand as well as learn how to prep an area for laying down the paver’s as well as how to install them and make sure they stay in tact over time.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity on how to lay pavers.  You will walk away with an abundant amount of knowledge about this tricky and time consuming DIY project.  Come out this weekend and ask some questions about this topic.

Last week I stumbled across this really cool idea of reusing a recycled 747 Boeing Jet and making into a house.  Throughout the project it has plans to use 4.5 million parts of the jet throughout the 55 acre property that is located out west in the hills of Malibu, California.

The main residence dawns the plane’s wings while the cockpit has become the owners meditation pavilion. The first class cabin deck is now the guest house but the oddest transformation is the animal barn. Made from the lower half of the fuselage, which forms the cargo hold, the animal barn is intended for housing endangered species.

One of the interesting things about this project that was first started in 2005 was that it was required to get approval from the FAA so the site would not be mistaken as a crash site from above.  There are hundreds of airplanes that have been mothballed in the deserts of California and are sold at the price of their principal raw material, aluminum.  This 747 home represents the single largest industrial achievement in modern history and its abandonment in the deserts.

Not only is the final result breathtaking, it’s an environmentally friendly home, too.  Who would of thought??  For more information on this project as well as some cool videos, check out the architects website!

Best Buy’s National Geek Squad Program is partnering this summer with Computers For Children to host the most TECH COOL Summer Program of the century, “The Geek Squad Summer Academy 2010″, coming this July 13-16 to ECC North!

Geek Squad’s intention is to demystify technology for young people and inspire them to be responsible and savvy 21st century citizens.

Geek Squad and their training team will bring $80,000 worth of media equipment designed especially for training and fun skill-building activities. Kids learn, create, and become Jr. Geek Squad Agents.

We have open enrollment for ALL youth throughout our Buffalo/Niagara region, enough for 240 young people; age 10-18 whose parents want to engage them in a fun filled week of learning and experimenting with great programs.

If you would like to find out more about this summer camp for the youth you can check out the computers for children web page.  You can also register your child up too through the website. Take advantage and sign up today before it fills up!

A new thing I would like to continually do is write about ReSourceful Projects that we all have come up with.  By doing this I can share the creative work of individuals who have purchased ReUsed products from Buffalo ReUse and made something new out of the old.  I cannot maintain this without the help of you out there.  If you are someone who likes to do this, please send me information on your project.   I would love to share it with the rest of our community.

It would be really cool if we all can keep track of the items that come in and out of store and help keep the uniqueness of Buffalo alive by ReUsing them for their intended purpose or some other creative purpose.   That being said please keep me updated on your journeys in and outside of our ReSource.  You can contact me at Scott {at} buffaloreuse(.)org.

A while back I endeavored my own creativity my making a table out of a door and two spindles.  You can read about this here.

With that being said, Christine Frank, a supporter and customer of Buffalo ReUse purchased an antique knob from the ReSource and used her creativity to come up with a tea box out of her newly acquired knob and old book.  Very clever.  She has created several other cool projects like this and you can read all about them as well as other topics on her website, the Eve of Reduction. I have included more photos of Chrstine’s project on our flickr set of ReSourceful projects that is linked above.

The toilet can be one of the major users of water in your home.  Malfunctioning fill valves and leaky flappers are the two most common sources of water waste.

Be alert for corroded parts.  A corroded tank lever or flapper chain can get tangled and prevent the flapper from closing completely, allowing water to escape down the drain.

Today at 4pm, at the ReSource at 298 Northampton St I will be hosting a workshop on techniques to saving money and water inside your toilet.  I will talk about and illustrate a couple different ways that anyone can save water which in return will save you money!

There is no need to go out to home depot and spend an arm and a leg on the newest state of the art,  high efficiency low flow toilet.

Many of us own valuable stuff we just don’t want anymore. But instead of giving it away or selling it, we allow it to clutter our households and businesses. Billions of great items are just wasting away, taking up space.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could magically shift ownership of this stuff, in one weekend, coast to coast, with zero effort, little time, and at no cost?

On May 15, bring your valuable, but unwanted stuff to your curb. Some guidelines – no trash, recyclables, illegal or dangerous items. No food, drugs, chemicals, or weapons. Just safe, valuable items we would like to donate. Then watch the fun – or better yet, take a walk and find some free stuff you can use.

Give Your Stuff Away Day is not a government program. Let’s keep it citizen-based, and let the government solve bigger problems.

But let’s also be responsible by:
• informing our local municipalities of our intent to participate
• asking local governments for a waiver to ordinances that might prohibit this activity
• placing at our curbs only items that others could use
• retrieving items not picked up within a couple of days

Want to help?
• Forward this blog to family and friends
• Write a small article or letter to myself
• Contact Buffalo ReUse and let them know you want to participate
• Help sponsor Give Your Stuff Away Day
Overall Mission. Shrinking landfills, reducing clutter, helping people…

For more information on this as well as more general guidelines and acceptable items that could be given away check out the give your stuff away day’s website.

If you need a friendly little reminder throughout the year,  think of Mr. C the Slide Man’s song “Cha-Cha Slide”. That will remind you to place potentially valuable items you’re discarding to the left and your normal trash to the right. That will make it easier for others to salvage items from your curb year-round.

A pre-1994 toilet uses at minimum 3.4 gallons of water per flush.  In 1992, the United States Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which mandated that, from 1994, the common flush-toilet use only 1.6 US gallons of water per flush.  In response to the Act, manufacturers produced low-flow toilets, which many consumers did not like.  Manufacturers responded to consumers’ complaints by improving the toilets.  The improved products are generally identified as high efficiency toilets or HET’s.   HET’s possess an effective flush volume of 1.28 gallons or less.

The only bad thing about these HET’s is that they can be very pricey. Here is a neat way to save money without shelling out a lot of money for something that sounds like a robot.

It’s simple, all you need is a 1/2 gallon bottle(milk jug) and some water.  By filling the bottle with water and inserting it into the top part of your toilet you simply save 1/2 gallon of water per flush.  Yeah, its not as productive as the HET’s but it’s fairly a priceless way to save money on your water bill.  If you have room within your model, you can add another bottle to save more, just be careful the bottle(s) do not touch any working parts.

Another way of doing this is by inserting sand or pebbles within the bottle instead of water, or you can insert rubber bricks in place of the bottle.  Those different ways just cost a little bit of money.  Why not just use whats around your house.

Caesandra found another fun option, the Sink Positive where after you finish–the washing of your hands helps fill the tank for the next flush!  Ingenious.