At Second Use we believe that our community is our collective responsibility. We stand with and pledge to take action alongside all those who demand justice for the death and killing of black, brown and indigenous people. Second Use strives to be a community business, and we stand with our community in demanding an end to systemic institutional racism and economic oppression.
As a company, Second Use seeks to reclaim and re-home building materials to rebuild homes and community spaces. We recognize that we have work to do to ensure that our mission intentionally benefits our whole community. We are reflecting on our role in our community and how we can do more in service of eradicating racism. When the home-ownership rate in King County Washington for black households is half that of the population as a whole, we must reckon with the likelihood that our work contributes to inequities. We must look at ourselves and our peers in environmentally oriented organizations and ask ourselves why our staff is so often predominately white. We have work to do to make our business more relevant, reflective of and connected to the whole community. This starts with listening and learning from a full range of community members. We are committed to the health of our shared environment and most importantly to the well-being of our neighbors, customers and colleagues.
*Thank you to customer Jen who shared their wonderful Black Lives Matter banner with us.
