Building Resilience Through Reuse: Livable Buckhead’s Volunteer Day at Lifecycle Building Center

As someone who usually starts the day with a 32oz iced coffee and a laptop, kicking off Friday morning at 8 a.m. by lifting bricks and cinder blocks was a bit of a shock to the system. But that’s exactly how our Livable Buckhead team began our volunteer shift at Lifecycle Building Center (LBC), a nonprofit dedicated to keeping reusable construction materials out of landfills and redirecting them back into the community. It was a stark but refreshing change from website updates and strategy meetings—turns out, nothing gets the blood pumping like hoisting bricks before your first sip of caffeine.

LBC’s mission aligns seamlessly with our work at Livable Buckhead, where we prioritize sustainability, resilience, and smart resource use. By reclaiming materials that would otherwise be discarded, LBC not only reduces waste but also provides affordable building supplies to homeowners, nonprofits, schools, and churches across metro Atlanta. Since 2011, they’ve diverted 12 million pounds of materials from landfills and generated over $5.5 million in community savings. Our team got a firsthand look at how this works, sorting salvaged goods, organizing inventory, and assisting customers in the bustling Reuse Center. It’s one thing to talk about sustainability—it’s another to roll up your sleeves and move the materials that make it possible.

Beyond the environmental benefits, LBC plays a critical role in workforce development and affordable housing efforts. Through deconstruction training programs and free classes on home performance and carpentry, they’re equipping individuals with valuable skills while simultaneously keeping materials in circulation. Seeing the impact of these efforts up close underscored how sustainability isn’t just about being eco-friendly—it’s about building stronger, more self-sufficient communities.

By the end of the morning, we were covered in dust, a little sore, and completely inspired. Volunteering at LBC wasn’t just a chance to give back—it was a hands-on lesson in the power of reuse. I even landed an awesome new office chair for a song in the process! And while we may have traded in our desks for lifting duties for a few hours, the experience reinforced what we already knew: resilience through reuse isn’t just a theory—it’s a movement, and one we’re proud to support. Whether you’re donating reclaimed materials from a renovation, shopping for the perfect office chair or live-edge wood planking, or rolling up your sleeves to volunteer, Lifecycle Building Center is a community worth being part of.