| August 2, 2000
News Release The typical "dream home" may include lush landscaping, customized features or designer furniture. However, Darrell Johnson, of D. Johnson Construction in Gig Harbor, is including an innovative feature in the house he built for the Street of Dreams custom home exhibition beginning this month; a deck and porch made entirely from recycled plastic lumber. Recycled Plastics Marketing, Inc. (RPM) of Redmond manufactures the maintenance-free plastic lumber by taking recycled plastic items, such as milk jugs, plastic bags and water bottles, destined for the landfill, and creates new products from them. RPM is one of the first participants in a new King County program called LinkUp, which provides access to free technical expertise, information resources and promotional assistance. "Initially, when RPM approached me, I was skeptical about using this product,"says Johnson, who has built homes in Puget Sound for nearly a dozen years. "But I found out plastic lumber is durable, easy to care for, good-looking and will outlast any natural product. I am a skeptic no more." At the RPM plant in Tacoma, tons of assorted plastic items in huge bales fill the loading dock area. The plastics are separated, reprocessed and turned back into pellets, which are then made into new products, including plastic lumber, outdoor furnishings and gardening/composting items. The RPM plant, the only facility of its kind in Washington state, also acts as a collection and resale site for recycled plastics that are marketed around the globe. This year's Street of Dreams, sponsored by the Master Builders of Tacoma-Pierce County, will be held August 4 - September 4 at the 92-acre Henderson Bay Estates near Gig Harbor, Wash. The event showcases the latest trends in building, architecture, technology, landscaping and interior design. Some 30,000 visitors are expected this year. In addition to RPM, two other businesses have joined the LinkUp program, launched this spring. They are TriVitro Corporation, Kent, Wash., which uses recycled glass containers to produce finely crushed glass to be used as an blasting abrasive and water-filtration medium, and Seattle's Custom Handweaving, whose owner Susan Snover uses surplus fabrics to weave colorful rag rugs in all sizes and shapes. LinkUp, sponsored by the King County Commission for Marketing Recyclable Materials, works with manufacturers throughout Puget Sound to encourage them to incorporate more recycled materials into their products. The program's goal is to have six to 12 businesses on board within the first year. To date, LinkUp has received approximately $235,000 from King County and the City of Seattle for program operation. Related Information |
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