Elise Zelechowski is executive director of the ReBuilding Exchange (RX), a Chicago-based organization that diverts used building materials – the source of 40% of America’s solid waste stream – away from landfills by promoting sustainable “deconstruction” practices which allow it to reclaim lumber and other raw materials from demolition and remodeling sites and make them available to the public for reuse.

In addition to being an expert on all things garbage, Zelechowski is also my neighbor and a damn fine conversationalist. We sat down over breakfast burritos in December to talk about the need to rethink the waste stream, the economic and environmental impacts of creative reuse, and how making trash visible is key to making it manageable. Our wide-ranging Q&A can be found here at the Occupy website (it was later picked up by Truthout).

Shortly after this piece was published at the end of 2013, Elise announced she was leaving RX to take a position with Thoughtworks, to lead their social impact program in the U.S. So, hey that means RX is looking for a new executive director to carry the torch she so critically lit.