Savannah group focused on historic preservation and sustainability featured on national news

A Savannah nonprofit was highlighted Saturday morning by a major national news show.

Re:Purpose Savannah, a women-led organization that focuses on repurposing historic building materials, was featured on CBS Saturday Morning. Executive director Mae Bowley, director of deconstruction Katie Fitzhugh and director of salvage Kelley Lowe were interviewed at the Re:Purpose Savannah warehouse by CBS's Janet Shamlian.

"There is light and there's beauty in what we're able to do," Lowe said. "The broader message of what we're doing is that we're doing something with intention."

Bowley noted during the Jan. 6 airing of the segment that construction waste is one of the largest contributors to landfills in the U.S., calling out the "urgent area to address in our current practices “

More: The women of Re:Purpose Savannah are reclaiming wood and history without a man's help

According to the CBS segment, Re:Purpose Savannah has prevented more than 3,000 tons of building materials from going to a landfill in the last five years.

Re:Purpose Savannah's website says that the group operates with the following three focuses:

• "Advocate, educate, and provide a climate-conscious alternative to conventional demolition that mitigates environmental and public health impacts

• "Connect best practices for structural removal with historic preservation, emphasizing research and documentation to preserve the diverse histories in our community

• "Train women+, including women-identified, trans, non-binary, and other underrepresented people, for careers in construction"

Watch the CBS Saturday Morning segment featuring Re:Purpose Savannah

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Re:Purpose Savannah featured on CBS Saturday Morning