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Mesa business helps home renovators recycle

Renovate your home and recycle at the same time with Valley nonprofit, Stardust.

MESA, Ariz. — Remodeling a home can cost thousands and create a ton of unnecessary waste. But, a Valley nonprofit is making it possible to save some serious cash and recycle most of the unwanted housing items that come along with renovations.

Chandler's new Craftpark Founder, Jeremy Waters, is swapping out the old with the recycled. He's remodeling his latest business venture. 

"It’s a total of nine retail spaces ranging from barber shops to a coffee shop," Waters said. "We’ve got two wine tasting rooms.”

And he’s doing the renovation with the help of Stardust, a local nonprofit that recycles and reuses building materials. Karen Jayne is the Stardust CEO. 

“(We recycle) cabinet sets and appliances and windows and doors," Jayne said. "All sorts of things that have come out of homes that have been remodeled and can be used by someone else."

It's a gem of a spot for someone like Waters, who loves combing through the 40,000 square feet of space filled with his kind of treasures.

“We’ve been able to get a lot of the different components that normally would cost thousands of dollars for pennies on the dollar," Waters said. "So it’s really worked out great for us to upgrade the space."

Stardust doesn’t only help shoppers like Waters save, but also homeowners who are remodeling.

“We’ll go into their homes and remove all of the reusable material at no cost to the donor," Jayne said.

It also benefits the environment.

“In our 20-year history, we’ve diverted over 80 million pounds of reusable material from our landfills," she said. 

And that’s a big deal. According to The Delta Institute, up to 70 percent of materials in most homes can be recycled and 25 percent of those materials can be reused.

"We distribute about 6.5 million dollars of reusable material back into the community every year," the Stardust CEO said. 

It's a cycle helping landlords trying to keep rent down, low-income families and anyone else on the hunt for a great find at anywhere from 50 to 80 percent off of regular retail prices.

Stardust is open to the public. There are two locations, one in Mesa and one in Glendale. 

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