I paid visits to two awesome Queens organizations in the past week: Build it Green and Materials for the Arts.  They're both collecting stuff that people don't need and re-distributing them to people who want random crap. 

The first stop was Build it Green, a building-supply store in LIC.  They take surplus building materials from contractors and do-it-yourselfers and re-sell them.  I'm not exactly sure how much doors or moulding or toilets cost new, so I couldn't tell if they give you a great deal or not.  Regardless, they are helping keep construction trash out of the landfill, which accounts for an astonishingly high percentage of what gets thrown away.  The haphazard warehouse had lots of paint, doors, cabinets, toilets, and appliances, as well as thrift store-type stuff like furniture and books.  It was fun to hunt around for awhile, but didn't yield the paint or hooks I was looking for.  

Materials for the Arts is a program run by NYC's Department of Sanitation and the Department of Cultural Affairs.  They distribute anything you can imagine to artists and teachers working with qualifying arts organizations/schools.  I saw furniture, office supplies, gigantic wheels, hundreds of team patches for hats and clothes, buttons, a huge glass globe - the list goes on and on - while "shopping" in their warehouse.  My more experienced friend tells me that their inventory is completely different every time you go.  People and companies donate their unwanted stuff  to MFTA in exchange for a tax write-off.   It seems that nothing is too miscellaneous: a group of helpful sculptor girls from Pratt had carts overflowing with metal rods, paper, paint, and many other things I couldn't identify.  I'm not sure how great the ecological impact of this venture is in the end, but I love the idea of artists transforming the city's garbage into magic.  I was looking for file cabinets and furniture for my upcoming installation project, but got a little overwhelmed by the sheer possibilities in the place.  If anyone's got extra two-drawer file cabinets, please let me know.

As much as I enjoyed my recent adventures, the visits taught me a little about myself - things I wasn't too keen to learn.  I'm an impatient shopper: years of Home Depot and my own personal peculiarities made hunting and digging a little frustrating.   I love walking into a place, locating exactly what I need amongst a million choices, and walking out in no time.  This is really counter to what Fix is about -- exploration, adventure, the unexpected -- and I'm not sure my desire for efficiency is something I'll get over this year, if ever.  Is it people like me who are plundering the world's resources in the name of convenience?