Stacie Stamper is the Commercial Marketing Associate for CertaPro Painters of Duluth & Norcross. She has a diverse background, but she has always been an advocate for reducing construction’s carbon footprint by diverting construction and demolition waste from landfills.   "The appreciation for things out in the industry … sitting in warehouses, storage units, garages … the things kept piling up … people didn’t want to throw them away, but they didn’t know what to do with them.” -Stacie Stamper   She is the creator of the “Follow the LEEDer initiative.” In this initiative she introduces the concept of a 'deconstruction' contractor.  This new type of contractor would remove materials for reuse and recycle as opposed to a demolition contractor that removes materials for disposal. With the creation of the Masterformat 2018, recycle and salvage vendors, liquidators, materials brokers, reuse retailers and manufacturers will be able to bid on salvaged waste from construction sites.   She volunteers as a Project Manager for the Gwinnett Habitat for Humanity. She has been a board member at Global Paint for Charity since 2012. Stacie received her BS in Computer Science and Computer Technology from Indiana State University. The Ah-Ha Moment It was working with Habitat for Humanity projects where Stacie Stamper became more aware about sustainability and started to understand the importance of conservation. Working there opened Stacie’s eyes to the opportunity of reusing materials from a job site.   Before that Stacie had an interior design studio. The space this firm occupied was in a 200 year old historic building. Her firm took it, refurbished it, and the creativity with reusing materials was born through this experience. The Recycling Challenge Some states have not figured out how to recycle used materials like paint although some states have a system in place that pays for itself. In California, paint is taxed by the gallon as a service charge and this pays for the recycling program. By paying up front, people are able to return the unused paint “free of charge” to have it recycled.   "My day job filters into my passion project which is ‘To rally the industry and bring people into the movement who can identify where the materials are. Then, we can engage before construction starts and have time to manage and plan the diversion.’” - Stacie Stamper   Expanding Recycle and Salvage Codes Inviting the procurement vendors to the table is the biggest change the industry is facing. If these vendors knew all materials were available prior to starting the project, they could come in and bid like contractors. Re-education is needed in the our industry to work with the construction industry.   "The word for 2018 is collaboration … it’s not just one industry that needs to take responsibility” - Stacie Stamper   Stacie shares an example of how as a painting contractor, she was able to reuse store fixtures marked for garbage and instead found a way to have this “waste” be reused to serve multiple purposes. At Habitat Restore the materials were sold to generate proceeds for families in need and as a contractor Stacie earned a tax receipt for the donation and reduced her waste disposal fees.   To hear about Stacie Stamper and how he is making with her “Follow the LEEDer initiative,” download and listen to the episode!   Connect with Stacie Stamper: Follow the LEEDer Program Stacie on LinkedIn CertaPro Painters   Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES:   Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram Don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes if you truly enjoyed the show. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast!