Page 46 - October 2015 Green Builder Magazine
P. 46
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HEATHER WALLACE
Recycling Challenge. A worker in the KEEN factory shaves off excess polyurethane from a shoe.
The ReBuilding Center also offers its DeConstruction Services, such as The ReBuilding Center of Portland and the Portland
which began in August of 1999. Working by hand, skilled crews of Habitat for Humanity Restore. The space now houses the KEEN
employees and volunteers salvage up to 85 percent of a building’s Garage, a retail space filled with fun, upcycled furniture, an in-
major components for reuse. This service is dependent on a house cafe and administrative offices.
volunteer crew of about 2,000 people a year; however, many of
the projects require steel toe shoes that most volunteers don’t KEEN Utility is currently working with a local university to
own. create a plan for recycling and repurposing leftover polyurethane
material, which is used to create the cushiony midsole of KEEN
Enter KEEN Utility, which has to date donated 30 pairs of work shoes.
boots to full-time volunteers and 40 additional pairs to create a
Volunteer Boot Library. Similar to a bowling alley, volunteers can A NATIONAL ALLIANCE
check out a pair of KEEN Utility steel toe boots on days they are In June of 2015, KEEN announced a partnership with The
helping out. Wilderness Society and the 21st Century Conservation Service
Corps on Project Build, an initiative that will outfit and connect
KEEN shares an enthusiasm for repurposing with The more youth with our public lands. Through Project Build, KEEN
ReBuilding Center. In 2012, KEEN purchased a building in the Utility hopes to help protect up to 500,000 acres of land, 100 miles
Pearl District in Portland, Ore., and began a massive remodel. They of rivers and dedicate almost 1,000 hours of volunteer time from
achieved an ambitious recycling goal: filling only one dumpster KEEN employees.
with garbage (it was actually just 80 percent full). The rest of the
materials were recycled, reused or donated to local organizations With more than 700,000 members and supporters, The
