We made numerous trips to the local Goodwill drop-off, loaded up a PODS container for storage, and moved. We’ve been in this house ever since we got married and it’s amazing how much junk has accumulated. Now it’s empty…there’s something magical and refreshing about an empty house.

And the construction fence has gone up.

Instead of demolishing our house we decided to deconstruct it using the ReUse People. With deconstruction, 85% of the house gets reused and can be deducted off your taxes as a charitable donation. Deconstruction costs twice as much as a normal demolition, but it’s green and the tax savings not only cover the difference but will likely cover the full cost of deconstruction and then some. However you have to pay upfront and won’t see the savings immediately but next year at tax time. Everything in the house gets tagged for appraisal by a professional…including the wind charm.

Deconstructing has another purpose, it makes me feel less guilty of demolishing our house. I hear the comment “mottainai!” a lot, it’s a Japanese term that means “squandering of natural resources” or when something useful is wasted. It conveys “reduce consumption, reuse, recycle, and repair” all in a single word. That word is simply un-american.