One strategy for significantly reducing the environmental impact of the products used in the construction of buildings is to salvage materials that would otherwise wind up in a landfill. Some examples include the granite cladding at the Zoo Atlanta Conservation Action Resource Center, which was salvaged scrap from the granite tombstone and monument industry. Wood from trees cleared at the site of the Joseph Jones Ecological Research Station was milled and used in the building structure. And removed sidewalks were used to create the gabion walls which form the natural stormwater management feature at the Southface Eco Office. The feature is spanned by an entry bridge constructed of salvaged lumber.

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Image 3-7 © Jonathan Hillyer