Monday, November 2, 2009

One Catastrophe Helps Another

Every once in a while our jobs here get a lot more meaningful.
A gentleman brought in our last load of lumber for the Greensburg, KS High School project this weekend. The bulk of this lumber was reclaimed from Hurricane Katrina and it seems only appropriate that it be re purposed on the Greensberg High School.
This has been a large and gratifying job to do. It has enabled us to become part of the process of helping Greensburg heal from the tornado that all but took it off the map.

The people of Greensburg are some resourceful, smart scrappers though, and their determination to rebuild their town and be kind to the future has brought them global attention.
Everyone we have worked with on this project has shown a keen understanding of the words "sustainable" and "local economies."
This makes our work here so much easier. It's hard to "teach" those qualities.
The serendipity of one catastrophe serving another is not lost on anyone in the food chain on this job.
It would be nice if this showed a shift in our collective consciousness. Imagine the impact of using our local and organic resources to the best of our abilities.
It's not easy, cheap or fast. It's none of those things. However, this project has grown into itself and proven that anything worth having is worth working hard for.
Just like your grandma said.
Build on.
copyright2009