Green Construction: Other People's Garbage is Too Expensive

I only have a couple of minutes before I have to wake up the babies and go to school to pick up Alyssa.  So, we are going to make this one short and sweet!

Today, we went to meet with the our builder's operations manager, who is basically guiding us through the process of customizing our soon-to-exist new home.  We are particularly interested in using eco-friendly materials that are also good for our indoor air quality.  So, we have been looking at lots of recycled and reclaimed (read: garbage, refuse, rubbish, junked) building products.

Cool, right?

Well, the bummer is that in order to salvage the budget for the project, we have to "scrap" some of the salvaged materials.  Yes.  I wanted to use other people's garbage to build my green dream house, but strangely enough...it is way too expensive!  It is cheaper to buy new.  Isn't that a drag?  What a crazy, mixed-up world.

Alas, here is some of the cool recycled ("trashy chic") stuff that we are still able use:
-reclaimed barn board flooring
-renewable bamboo flooring
-36% recycled ceramic flooring
-recycled resin solid surface bathroom vanity tops
-fomaldehyde free drywall
-recycled newspaper insulation
-no VOC paint
-sustainable, renewable, GreenGuard-IAQ-approved Meganite kitchen countertops

So very exciting!  Add Green Building General Contractor to momglomerate!