Latest Headlines on OCRegister.com
[x] Close
Green OC ~ All things green in Orange County.
« Previous Post
Next Post »

Landscape recycler: O.C. woman creates contractor “Craig’s list”

October 13th, 2009, 11:10 am · 11 Comments · posted by

You’ve got an orphan load of rocks. Or bricks. Or wood planks. What to do?  beckstrom

Until recently, even licensed contractors might have been forced to dump them in the landfill. But a Mission Viejo woman recently invented another option: ContractorBoneyards.com.

The web site, launched just four weeks ago, allows licensed contractors to buy and sell excess building materials — potentially a way to vastly increase recycling, a major concern for “green” builders.

“Recycling means materials diverted from the waste stream become a different type of finished product,” said the site’s creator, Angelia Woodside-Beckstrom.

She said she wasn’t quite prepared for the response: rapid-fire emails from landscape professionals around the country.

“I bounced it off a couple contractor friends who said, ‘I can’t believe this has not been done,’” she said. “‘This is a great idea. I put out an announcement and got a lot of communication from people all over the country. I thought to myself, surely this couldn’t be the first one.”

contractorboneyardBut apparently, it is. Woodside-Beckstrom, who owns her own landscaping business, is starting small, with only a few dozen contractors posting photos of what they are selling, or describing what they need, along with zip codes on the site.

“It was like, ’How can we embed an EBay type of function with a Craig’s list type of flair?’”

The site is powerful enough, she said, to hold “thousands of users across the nation.”

Those who sign up must post their contractor’s licenses. “I’d like to keep it completely professional,” Woodside-Beckstrom said.

She once worked with a software company, and is a LEED-accredited landscape designer; she simply mingled the best of both worlds. She hopes the flurry of early interest means use of her site will become widespread.

“A lot of them are really hurting financially,” she said of landscape contractors. “If they have some type of way to get revenue for their family around Thanksgiving, off stuff just sitting there, I’d sure like to help them out.”

(Photo of Woodside-Beckstrom and graphic courtesy, Angelia Woodside-Beckstrom.)

Latest posts:

  • Saving money at home can be a matter of small steps
  • Green tip: unclog your drain, naturally
  • Green job, energy bills could give a jolt to Southern California
  • Poll: reusable water bottles trash disposables
  • “James Bond” star makes viral marketing pitch for ocean reserves
  • September in California ties for warmest ever recorded
  • O.C. residents can grab $2.6 million in home weatherization bucks
  • Video: O.C. 4-H kids dive into biofuels experiment
  • Will Santa Margarita High provide O.C. diocese’s first green building?
  • Green homes in H.B. still on track
  • O.C. 4-H kids zap cars into action with biofuels today
  • Cash for clunkers — TV clunkers, that is
  • Edge of Nature: O.C.’s “broom” plant defies drought
  • Water bottles: what do you use?
  • Water from waste on tap in Placentia
  • One Earth, One Dream, one EcoFest in Laguna
  • O.C. green building efforts soaring, report shows
    • ADVERTISEMENT

    You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

    Reader Comments
    Comments are encouraged, but you must follow our User Agreement.
    1. Keep it civil and stay on topic.
    2. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks.
    3. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked.

     11 Comments

    • Kenneth Kehl says:
      October 13, 2009 at 12:07 pm

      This is good as long as there is building materials to recyle. But what happens if the economy goes even futher down and there is very little building. Then it doesn’t pay in volumn to do a business like this.

      • 1person says:
        October 13, 2009 at 1:41 pm

        It sounds like the site and service she has created is simply acting as a go between for people who need to get rid of stuff and people who want to find stuff. Contractors almost always have excess materials laying around after a project because they would rather order more than they need as opposed to ordering short then ordering again. Even for a small-scale contractor is going to have materials left over that can be used for something else. We had work done at our house recently and one of our neighbors would come over and pick up left-over lumber that the contractor no longer needed. He used it for shelving and planter boxes.

    • Dana R says:
      October 13, 2009 at 12:12 pm

      There is always bulding going on. Even in a bad economy.

    • Angelia Woodside Beckstrom says:
      October 13, 2009 at 12:41 pm

      This site is great for the small contractor. They can deal in small quantities, and even liquidate old materials that have been sitting around in their backlots for income.

    • Sarah Stanley says:
      October 13, 2009 at 12:44 pm

      This is a great idea. I am an account representative for Haulaway Storage Containers and rent out containers mostly for Job sites and see alot of what is mentioned when I work out in the field.

    • Hilary Kaye says:
      October 13, 2009 at 1:16 pm

      Angelia, this is so smart! Great concept from both sides — saving the environment & saving money. As long as there is some building activity going on, there will be a need for this, and as the economy grows again, even more valuable. And social media will be a great way for you to spread the word too. Way to go!

    • imacobru says:
      October 14, 2009 at 6:38 am

      Angelia Woodside-Beckstrom.

      Interesting concept –

      Questions -

      1. Being the ‘Broker’ or ‘Brokerage Firm’, since I assume your site is a fee based site. If any Hazardous Waste is exchanged between firms, even if you don’t have direct knowledge, your firm would still be a responsible party in the handling, transporation, disposal, recordation, and proper storage of that material, correct?
      2. Assuming that you are a ‘;Broker’, since your Firm has specifically stated – Only Licensed Building Contractors’, your firm is confirming that each qualified ‘User’ is in fact licensed, Insured, Bonded, insured and has hired documented, qualified workers with proper payroll and insurance records?

      …,hope you got a good Attorney and high limits on your liability insurance…. Good luck.

    • lynn says:
      October 17, 2009 at 7:16 pm

      Angelia, i love your idea. What an “A-HA” moment. I hate waste of any kind and i applaud you for your idea and solution. Every time i have something to get rid of, i can not just simply throw it away. I say ” someone can use this, the challenge is in who, what, when, & where and how to connect.
      Don’t let the “negative-Nellie’s” knock you down. Listen to their comments and say “interesting” i may need to look into that to refine your business.
      wish you the best success! Lynn

    • Stacy McCullough says:
      October 20, 2009 at 4:38 pm

      Angelia,
      Congratulations on the great recycling idea and OC Register idea. May I copy the article over to my website or should I only add the link within the body of an updated post?

      Let me know. I’d love to get the word out.
      Stacy M

    SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline