Deconstruction and Recycling Opportunities

Does anyone here do any work involved with deconstruction, salvaging, and recycling? If so, I have a set of follow up questions for you:
1) How did you get started?
2) Perks of being in the field?
3) Downsides of being in the field?
4) For someone who wants to dabble into the field (such as blight removal) will you either talk me into it or out of it?

I have always had a personal interest in tackling tasks that have a perceived interest in restoring the environment. I for one am not much of a fan of blight in the towns I have lived, nor in the places I travel. I am looking for some initiative to partake in projects that reuse materials instead of dumping into landfills. I see that blight removal is an area that has money to be made, and offers a positive storyline that you will not typically get with demolition projects. What say you MT?

//ETA: Links illustrating money in blight and job creation.
$850 million cost of Detroit blight
$15 million awarded to 5 Indiana cities to fight blight
Article via MSN outlining deconstruction benefits