Reduce Reuse Recycle, Re-invent — There’s an old saying that “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Some junk is just that until recycled or upcycled into treasure.
The mixed use project is not only energy efficient but also fun. The junk yard became Karl Wanaselja’s palette. Some 14 million cars are junked a year, so the pickings are ripe, and he sees no shortage of parts in the future The San Francisco Bay Area, he says, is a great resource – a hub — for scrap metal. Much of the metal is gathered in yards to be sold overseas. The road and street signs, some from as far away as Wyoming, cost $1.00 a pound – he bought three and a half tons from four salvage yards. Wanaselja used the street signs as pickets and siding. For the picket fence gate that leads into the courtyard, one can read the street names. He reversed the aluminum signs and used them as siding on much of the project – the back sides are silver.