Allison Walker, Your Home
 

Nearly all of the tile used at the recent "Coverings" show at the Orange County Convention Center is about to be recycled, and used to build homes and rebuild tornado-stricken communities.

"There's tens of thousands of square feet of that kind of tile that comes out of a show like this," said Eric Astrachan, executive director of the Tile Council of North America.

The show included Spanish, Italian, even eco-friendly porcelain tiling.

"A show like this has a lot of tile that won't get used," Astrachan said.

So instead of throwing out these displays, Astrachan and Tile Partners for Humanity said five 5 full truck loads of tile are on their way to parts of the country devastated by tornadoes during the week of the convention.

The executive director of Tile Partners for Humanity said the tile did not stay to help out Central Florida, because Habitat does not typically deal with such high-end and decorative material.

Instead, the organization said the show's leftovers would better benefit the rebuilding of places like churches and city structures.

While no Central Florida Habitat for Humanity will get a truck load this time, Tiles for Humanity told News 13 it was talking with Southwest Volusia and Daytona Beach affiliates.

"We're working to get tile and installation materials donated, as well as find partners willing to teach local volunteers to install tile in the homes," a Habitat spokesperson said.

If you want to help donate to Tile Partners for Humanity, visit their Web site to submit a donation form.

To see more Your Home stories, go to News 13 On Demand, Digital Cable Channel 313.

 
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