“The results of deconstruction are less dumping in landfills, prevention of demolition by neglect, and healthier and safer neighborhoods. In the long term, we envision a citywide ordinance to deconstruct historic structures instead of demolishing them. This will significantly improve the environmental impact of the City of Savannah.” said Mae Bowley, Executive Director of Re:Purpose
Crackedpots Holiday Shop encourages shoppers to reconsider the disposable nature of the season with thoughtful alternative gifts made from reclaimed materials.
Crackedpots (crackedpots.org) is a small environmental art nonprofit in whose mission is waste reduction through reuse. This year this humble organization has quietly made a stunning leap forward for the reuse industry, by opening a retail store in a major mall in Portland, Oregon.
The Crackedpots Holiday Shop carries local, handcrafted products that are exclusively made from a minimum of 80% reclaimed materials. Recovered waste materials are transformed into furniture, lighting, fixtures, clothing, accessories, fine art, and craft. Items are made from salvaged metal, glass, textiles, jewelry, assemblage, wood and plastics.
By selling only reclaimed products in a major shopping center for the holidays, Crackedpots is mainstreaming the reuse market by leaps and bounds. The ReTuna Återbruksgalleria mall in Eskilstuna, Sweden is the only other known mall retail outlet pioneering exclusively reclaimed goods.
This unique organization has less than ten employees, working part time. The operating budget is under $100,000. They have three programs, the annual Reuse Art Show, the GLEAN art show, and ReClaim It! salvage store.
This summer’s 19th Annual Reuse Art Show converted over 20 tons of waste into retail products. Since 2014 Cracked Pots has diverted 413,310 pounds from the Metro Central Transfer Station.
By Sara Badiali
Austin Ryan (left) and Austin Sensenig haul out pieces from an old barn for their business, Green River Barn Salvage. (Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com)
“We are always in contact with anyone who has an excavator or a backhoe,” said Ryan, who lives in Rock Falls. “We can make dinner tables, benches, bookshelves, bird feeders, bird houses, everything.”
Source: Newman grads practice the three R’s: reclaim, repurpose, reinvent | SaukValley.com
Built in 1978, the 2,400-square-foot house was the brainchild of Francisco Reynders, a Dutch artist, set designer, and mime who trained under the legendary French mime Marcel Marceau. According to Oregon Live, Reynders was inspired to build the home after finding discarded gun turret shrouds of an WWII aircraft carrier at a junkyard on the Willamette River. Reynders, no fan of regular boxy houses with sharp angles, set out to the create his “organically sensuous” dome home, and the shrouds ended up becoming the two smaller bedrooms and bathrooms—the holes for the warship’s cannons became the skylights.
Source: Wild Dome Home Repurposed From WWII Warship Scraps Asks $776K – Curbed
Heather Patterson builds three dimensional sculptural mosaics using found wood, sea glass, ceramics and metals. Collecting the unremarkable evidence left behind — items that are washed up on a beach or tossed on the street, construction materials from demolitions and renovations–Patterson takes what is overlooked and connects them to a new purpose.
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3. Church Pew to Headboard
Via designsponge.com
13. Old Screens to Hamper
Via apartmenttherapy.com
15. Library Card Catalog to Liquore Cabinet
via apartmenttherapy.com
26 Ordinary Objects Repurposed Into Extraordinary Furniture.