Current Projects

Currently Writng:

Building it Up: Crafting Circular Economies through Reclaimed Materials by Sara Badiali

Building It Up: Crafting Circular Economies through Reclaimed Materials

The waste is ordinary; the execution is revolutionary.

This is a book of inspiration. It is a guide to financial independence with a route to making the world, or at least your community, a better place. The path forward begins with using free or inexpensive resources, specifically what others see as trash.

This guide is about harnessing and organizing creativity. It shows what others have done with the artists, makers, and entrepreneurs in their communities to bring about positive change. The examples are extraordinary, ingenious, beautiful, and exciting.

Use this resource again and again. Use it to launch your hope. Use it to see what is possible because others are already doing it. No matter how many times you read it, you will find something new and useful. It is a multi-tool of inspiration and a step-by-step path forward.

Building It Up reveals reuse as an economic and cultural strategy capable of creating jobs, supporting artists and entrepreneurs, revitalizing neighborhoods, and transforming discarded materials into thriving local markets.

Whether you're a policymaker, business owner, architect, nonprofit leader, artist, or passionate advocate, Building It Up provides practical tools and inspiring case studies for creating circular systems that benefit both people and place. Readers will discover how local action can cultivate vibrant ecosystems where creativity drives commerce and sustainability strengthens community, while providing a pathway for successful local ideas to become public policy and lasting economic change.

Beginning with the energy of reuse festivals and markets, the book explores how gatherings of artists, designers, and makers can spark cultural change and prove that waste has value. From lessons drawn from German Christmas markets, furniture reclamation, malls, material supply chains, and even islands, Sara Badiali maps the evolution of a reuse economy from craft-level experimentation to stable manufacturing and production.

Real-world examples demonstrate how partnership, material access, and organization transform isolated makers into coordinated economic forces. But creativity alone does not scale. Public policy is presented not as bureaucracy, but as democracy in action: community will translated into systems that endure.

Each chapter shares real examples and case studies of reuse in action, followed by focused policy pathways that could support and expand similar efforts elsewhere. Clear breakdowns at the end of every chapter provide quick-reference tools to help keep community efforts organized and moving forward.

Along the way, the book explores how reuse strengthens wellness, restores pride, revitalizes underused spaces, and keeps wealth rooted locally.

No matter who you are, you will find yourself in these pages.

Part inspiration, part field guide, Building It Up equips readers with the tools to organize, scale, and secure a circular economy in their own region. Waste becomes a resource. Creativity becomes economic development. Community action becomes lasting change.

Current Collaboration:

I’m currently collaborating with Danny Salomon, founder of Second Story Builders, a Midcoast Maine-based business rooted in circular construction and "Radical Reuse." Together, we're supporting the Midcoast Solid Waste Corporation (MCSWC) through a waste audit aimed at identifying materials with high reuse potential at the local transfer station. This project combines field research with community education by involving high school students from Camden Hills Regional High School in hands-on data collection. It’s a strong example of how reuse, youth engagement, and environmental goals can align to create lasting local impact.

Current Fabrication:

Pacific NW Mushroom Chair