I was recently asked to assist a PhD student preparing her dissertation on reclaimed building materials. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, something clicked — I realized that the art of building deconstruction and the act of harvesting organs for donation are not so different. Both are about recognizing life left in something others have written off, and making sure it finds its way to someone who needs it. I am also a proud Certified Deconstruction Contractor in Boise Idaho with The Reuse People of America. I get to live the mission. Keeping building materials out of the landfill is a tall task to fulfill and a responsibility that fits my ethos.

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Throughout my career as a paramedic, I had the opportunity to be involved in encouraging organ donation. It was rarely straightforward. I typically found that some tragedy was redeemed only at the bitter end — when the save I thought I had achieved turned out to be terminal, and a grieving family chose to find meaning in the loss by choosing donation. I was even in a low-budget movie with Bill Murray, playing a flight medic delivering a donated organ to a rooftop helipad. Life is stranger and richer than fiction.

Heart Breaker

The Grammy Award-winning song “Just Like That” by Bonnie Raitt tells this story better than I ever could.

I Am An Organ Donor

I was once asked to explore being a living donor, It didn’t work out in the end. What I learned about myself is that the human connection is the glue for me — the knowledge of exactly whose life you are touching makes all the difference.

It would be cool to be the donor down the road. Even the thought of it makes me happy.

I Am A Building Materials Donor Too

Building materials can forge that same kind of intimate connection with a recipient. A salvaged beam, a reclaimed door, a stack of old brick — these things carry history and warmth that new materials simply cannot replicate. I tend to hold onto things far too long, so I understand the attachment. But there is real satisfaction in seeing used materials find a new home, whether I am the one who places them there or not.

The parallel runs deeper than sentiment. Organ harvesters and building deconstructors are really doing the same work — they move carefully through something that has reached the end of one life, identifying what still has value, and ensuring it gets to where it can live again. The skill is in knowing what to save, and the grace is in letting it go.

The Dream Lives On

As my finite time winds down, I take solace in knowing I am not going to do everything I once envisioned — and I have made peace with that. I revel in what I did get to do. Having a place to take in unwanted building materials and give them new purpose will have to remain a dream for now, crowded out by other ambitions equally worth chasing.

But the dream is in good hands. I support and deeply admire everyone working in the harvesting, reuse, and upcycling of everything others leave behind. They are, in their own way, keeping things alive.

One man’s junk is another man’s lifeline.

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