NEW YORK—Looking for vintage Koss headphones, construction rubble, or a lifeguard backboard?
Head to Film Biz Recycling (FBR) in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and explore the non-profit’s 10,000 square foot warehouse filled with items for rent or purchase that are donated from film shoots, television commercials, and theater productions.
The organization was conceived by Eva Radke after 15 years in the film business, and diverts expensive items from being thrown away.
“I saw that there was this underbelly, and an unconscionable amount of waste,” said Radke, who is founder and president.
Donations recently arrived from the movies “New Year’s Eve,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” and “Gods Behaving Badly.” Past donations have come from “Law & Order,” “30 Rock,” “Gossip Girl,” and television commercials.
Since opening in 2008, says a year-end post on their website, FBR has diverted more than 96 tons of material from 122 films, 53 television shows, 98 commercials, and nine stage productions.
The skills Radke accumulated over 15 years in the industry—dealing with “very strict deadlines” and having “no room for error”—helped prepare her for running FBR.
“Being an insider, too, really helps,” she added.
“I’m a natural connector,” she said, motioning to a pillow. “I know who’s going to find the most value in this pillow. And there are some things that are just good for film here.”
One example is the construction rubble—which is actually made out of foam—or old newspaper boxes, “Things that we know they’re [film productions] always looking for.”
Giving Leads to Growth
“The first place was really an experiment,” explained Radke. “What’s the interest, what’s the volume, and there was lots of all of it. It was very clear that we had to grow or die ... from a business standpoint.”
The organization grew from one to two employees to eight, and moved to the Gowanus warehouse a year ago. By the time the lease is up, Radke aims to have a 50,000 sq. foot warehouse selected.
By working with charities to re-donate more than 60 percent of what they receive, FBR has attracted attention that Radke sometimes doesn’t understand.
“It’s shocking to me that this is a new concept: taking what is useful—and many times expensive—and giving it away versus throwing it away.”
Nothing is thrown away. They compost, and out of the truckloads of material, only a small pile of cardboard boxes is recycled each week. “We'll get a towel with fake Hollywood blood all over it, and we even have a way to recycle all of these textiles,” said Radke.
They work with several New York charities—including Recycle-A-Bicycle, Materials for the Arts, and Chips—giving them practically whatever they need.
“You call them and ask them if they need stuff, and they say ‘yes,’ and you figure out how it’s going to get there,” said Radke. “It’s really simple.”
Blissful Bedrooms is a non-profit that does bedroom makeovers for disabled children.
“We let them come in and raid our prop house,” Radke said. “They can take whatever they want.”
Highlights of 2011 include passing on a donated electric guitar to the charity project Rock for Japan, offering victims of Hurricane Irene free materials for storm recovery, and being featured on the White House’s blog.
They also donated nine bunk beds to non-profit CAMBA, one of their partners, which later gave them an award and plaque.
The business can still break even despite giving so much away and makes sure to take care of the staff, providing health insurance and time off. “We’ve proved,” said Radke, “ethical business is sustainable.”
“In a not-so-tangible way, or even expressible or provable way—actually giving it away is one of our biggest revenue streams,” she said. “People know that when they do spend dollars here, we’re doing good with that.”
