Tag Archives: reuse

How an Irvington Company Salvaged a Century-Old Barn | NJ Monthly

Dismantling a historic barn is an exacting process, requiring weeks of logistical planning. Because the team hopes to repurpose every piece of wood, most work is done by hand, with the occasional support of heavy machinery. “The barn has its own plan,” says manager Anthony Saraceno. “There are always surprises.” Photo by Joe Polillio

Each salvage job is unique. In the case of Pitney Farm, a portion of the grounds is to be converted into a public park. Some of the salvaged wood was set aside to build benches for the park. Real Antique Wood will repurpose the rest. “I’ve probably made 25 mantels from the beams of that barn already,” says Anthony Saraceno, who manages the mill and Real Antique Wood.

Source: How an Irvington Company Salvaged a Century-Old Barn | NJ Monthly

With fate of LCUSD-owned Batchelder fireplace in limbo, old tiles are made new – Los Angeles Times

LCF Fireplace Visit

Alan Batchelder, during a 2018 visit to a building owned by La Cañada Unified School District, poses with a fireplace made in 1923 by his grandfather, Arts and Crafts tile artist Ernest Allan Batchelder.
(File Photo)

“We’re trying to get ideas from tile preservationists about what it would take to move and restore it,” said LCUSD Assistant Supt. Mark Evans. “The house is going to have to come down, so we’re looking at how do we salvage it and is there a home for it?”

Source: With fate of LCUSD-owned Batchelder fireplace in limbo, old tiles are made new – Los Angeles Times

GLEAN Portland

GLEAN, Portland, Oregon

GLEAN exhibit blurs boundaries of “trash,” showcases artists at Lovejoy Square, Aug. 1 – 25

Inspiration often arrives in unexpected packages. See how five local artists – Vanessa Calvert, Jeremy Okai Davis, Asa Mease, Miel-Margarita Paredes and Lauren Prado – transformed a steady stream of the Portland area’s trash into art. Their works will be on display and sale at Lovejoy Square, 1313 NW Kearney St., Portland. Opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1. Gallery hours: noon to 5 p.m. Friday – Sunday. Ends Aug. 25. Wheelchair accessible. Gleanportland.com

Source: GLEAN Portland

Everything and the Kitchen Sink | Elf | sentinelsource.com

 

Antique sink

“You never know when you might see something,” said Paula Bishop, owner of City Girl in the Country, an architectural salvage company in Antrim that specializes in sinks. “I am not afraid to knock on people’s doors if I see something in their yard. And I didn’t realize at first that so many New England homes have their own junkyard in the backyard.”

Source: Everything and the Kitchen Sink | Elf | sentinelsource.com

Furniture designers embrace sustainability at Milan Design Week, with 3Rs – reduce, reuse recycle – to the fore as much as 3D | South China Morning Post

British designer Timothy Oulton turned to natural materials, working with Chinese indigo dye craftsmen in a remote village to create fabric for his Noble Souls sofa range shown in Milan.

The unprecedented manifesto from the organisers of April’s fair called on the design industry to improve innovation and sustainability, and to embrace the circular economy. In practice, this means exploring new solutions for recycling materials and working with sustainable natural materials, keeping resources in use for as long as possible, and recovering and regenerating materials at the end of their life.

Source: Furniture designers embrace sustainability at Milan Design Week, with 3Rs – reduce, reuse recycle – to the fore as much as 3D | South China Morning Post

2018 Crackedpots Reuse Art Show — Portland, Oregon

ONE WEEK LEFT TO APPLY TO REUSE ART/MAKER SHOW IN PORTLAND, OREGON!

Crackedpots 19th Annual Reuse Art Show! The 2018 cracked pots Art Show will be taking place on August 14th and 15th at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon. Reuse Artists and Makers Applications will be taken until March 31st.

Source: 2018 Crackedpots Reuse Art Show — crackedpots

Deconstruction junction: Milwaukee’s reuse future – The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids

(Image courtesy of the Delta Institute via Extracting Value through Deconstruction)

On Jan. 1, the country’s second deconstruction ordinance went into effect in Milwaukee. In short, the ordinance “provides deconstruction requirements for the removal of Milwaukee’s older and more historic primary dwelling structures.” Deconstruction, in contrast to demolition, is the process of systematically dismantling a structure in an environmentally, socially and economically responsible manner, aiming to maximize the recovery of materials for reuse and recycling. The ordinance targets primary-dwelling structures built in 1929 or earlier. This reason for this specification? The likelihood that those structures will contain old-growth lumber and other valuable building materials.

Source: Deconstruction junction: Milwaukee’s reuse future – The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids

Home design: How to refresh your kitchen AND look after the planet | Property | Life & Style | Express.co.uk

Ex-display kitchen and Vapos hot water tap

The Used Kitchen Company sells ex-display kitchens / Caple’s Vapos hot water tap costs from £1,006

“There is no sense in hiring a skip and sending a kitchen to landfill when we could recycle it and allow its owner to earn some cash by selling it on.”

Source: Home design: How to refresh your kitchen AND look after the planet | Property | Life & Style | Express.co.uk

DEQ Announces First Reuse and Repair Workforce Development Micro-Grant Recipients Totaling $48,596

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has selected recipients for five micro grant projects aimed at workforce development in the reuse and repair industries. Each grantee is receiving up to $10,000 that can be used to purchase equipment and train employees to support long-term business expansion.

Source: Oregon.gov: NewsDetail

This bar may not be art, but it is an inspiring reuse | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A closeup view of the maple top of a bar that Dave Matline and Dave Baldonieri made from an old bowling alley. It was a special award winner in the Reuse Inspiration Contest.

Knowing that Mr. Baldonieri had once used bowling alley wood to make a work bench, Mr. Matlin was delighted to find pieces of maple lanes for sale at Construction Junction, a nonprofit retailer of salvaged and surplus building materials in Point Breeze. But none were quite right for the project. Then he discovered more damaged sections on the loading dock — for free! “We started hacking and whacking,” Mr. Matlin said. “It worked out better than I thought it would.”

Source: This bar may not be art, but it is an inspiring reuse | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Recycling the Past to Build the Future — Environmental Protection

Tacoma started by cleaning the waterways, polluted from decades of industry. New strategies, new technologies, such as "fingerprinting" of pollutants in the water, and new processes were developed, in partnership between UW Tacoma and the city. (Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County photo)

Tacoma’s downtown had character. And instead of wiping it out, the city reclaimed it, just as it had reclaimed the waterways. In an effort to be sustainable and adaptive while keeping that character, the city stressed creatively repurposing and developing older and historic buildings, which other cities, including Seattle, had been tearing down for new development. Almost overnight, Tacoma became a leader in green building and creative reuse.

Source: Recycling the Past to Build the Future — Environmental Protection

A Surprising Fact About Medieval Europeans: They Recycled | Atlas Obscura

Two leaves from The Mirror of Human Salvation. These pages were reused as a wrapper for a book at some later time. The ghosting of the book it adorned can still be seen in the dark, abraded portion that spans the two pages. (Image: The Walters Art Museum/CC-0)

According to Fleming, the British raided Roman ruins for building materials  to the extent that until the 11th century, Christian churches in Britain were constructed mostly from scavenged Roman materials. This assertion has been verified through architectural surveys, one of which discovered over 300 churches around London built from Roman ruins. Similarly, tile, ceramics, pottery, and iron were all reclaimed and repurposed.

Source: A Surprising Fact About Medieval Europeans: They Recycled | Atlas Obscura

Google Is Moving Into The Spruce Goose’s Massive Hangar: LAist

The hangar that used to house the Spruce Goose (Photo by Mike Hume via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)

The hangar is massive, with an area of 319,000-square-feet. It had to be huge because The Spruce Goose had eight propeller engines and a wingspan longer than a football field, according to The History Channel. Google is expected to use the hangar as an expansion of its L.A. offices. There is no word about a move-in date, or what the company will do with the adjacent land it purchased in 2014.

Source: Google Is Moving Into The Spruce Goose’s Massive Hangar: LAist

Muskegon: Bring us your blight | 2016-03-25 | Grand Rapids Business Journal

This November 2015 photo shows a blighted house being demolished on Sanford Street in Muskegon Heights.

“(It is) looking at a large catchment area of the entire Great Lakes and utilizing the Port of Muskegon to bring in that material from other cities throughout the Great Lakes, repurpose it here in Muskegon, and then ship it back out through the Port of Muskegon,” said Kuhn. The study builds on the work Michigan State University researchers began more than a year ago when they looked at blighted homes and structures in Muskegon Heights. MSU worked in partnership with Muskegon County at the time.

Source: Muskegon: Bring us your blight | 2016-03-25 | Grand Rapids Business Journal

Picking Indiana: Couple’s salvage barn increasingly popular

Customers lined up at the door for the 10 a.m. opening. Customers pored over antique items at a once a month sale at the Small Town Salvage store in Bargersville Sunday January 17, 2016. Rob Goebel/Daily Journal

Small Town Salvage is a monthly pop-up event outside of Bargersville, bringing hundreds of people to scour their displays and bins looking for the perfect accent for their homes. Their popularity has stemmed from the increasingly trendy concept of up-cycling the old into something new. “We have to go out and physically hunt for this stuff. We’re looking for the barns, driving around the country, cold-picking,” Obergfell Gindling said.

Source: Picking Indiana: Couple’s salvage barn increasingly popular

BMRA News, January 2016 – Decon ’16 Update

Decon16-logo-bannerEagele

DECON ’16 Update

Time is drawing closer to the DECON ’16 conference and expo in Raleigh, North Carolina, February 29 – March 3.  If you have not yet registered, make your plans and get started here.  There will be speakers providing the latest research and hottest topics in building deconstruction, salvage and building materials reuse.  This is an opportunity to network with others in this field that only comes every couple of years, so we urge you to take advantage of it.  Register now!

The conference program is coming together, accepted speakers are being posted on a rolling basis.

An exciting class is planned for the days just after the main conference.  Added Value: A Hands-on Guide to Setting up your Reclaimed Wood Shop.  The BMRA has partnered with the Department of Forest Biomaterials at North Carolina State University to develop the ideal course to get your reclaimed woodshop up and running. This 1.5 day course will run on Thursday March 2nd (9-5) and Friday March 3rd (9-3), with plenty of time on Friday evening to catch your flight home.

Full details available here.

via BMRA News, January 2016.

Design Doctor will be at Ocean Terminal this weekend | The Edinburgh Reporter

SWG3F_20151127_1681Today and tomorrow marks the culmination of a Scotland-wide, eight-week social media campaign to encourage people to upcycle and re-use furniture.

“Re-using things – whether that be through upcycling, donating unwanted items, or buying from a re-use store not only saves money – it is one of the best options for the environment since it prevents waste going to landfill and lowers the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing new items.”

via Design Doctor will be at Ocean Terminal this weekend | The Edinburgh Reporter.

Construction Junction’s painted doors use jokes to promote recycling | TribLIVE

The Point Breeze-based warehouse for used building materials has teamed up with MARC USA for a year-long “The Environment Is No Joke” campaign, which puts goofy knock-knock jokes on doors that were donated to Construction Junction, then decorated by local artists. Five such featured doors — including a work in progress with a video screen and digital experience — will be displayed throughout Downtown’s Cultural District during Highmark First Night Pittsburgh on New Year’s Eve.

via Construction Junction’s painted doors use jokes to promote recycling | TribLIVE.

Reversible Concrete: 3D Printing for Easy Deconstruction & Reuse | Urbanist

temporary rock string concrete

Effectively any shape is possible thanks to the 3D printing process, while the results are strong and durable, relying on the physics of jamming and collective strength of composited stones. The reversibility of the process makes this a far more eco-friendly way to build rigid structures from durable materials that still dismantle on demand.

temporary concrete jammed rocks

via Reversible Concrete: 3D Printing for Easy Deconstruction & Reuse | Urbanist.

ReUse in the Milk-Bone district – Business – The Buffalo News

George Apfel, left, and Kevin Hayes arrange recycled art and furniture created by artisan Shawn Faulkner at the new ReUse Action store at 980 Northampton St. in the city’s Fillmore section, near the Milk-Bone factory. It’s being called Guild @ 980.George Apfel, left, and Kevin Hayes arrange recycled art and furniture created by artisan Shawn Faulkner at the new ReUse Action store at 980 Northampton St. in the city’s Fillmore section, near the Milk-Bone factory. It’s being called Guild @ 980. Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News

“I want this place to be a service to the community,” Gainer said. “I can’t just have old expensive stuff.”

In addition to the reclaimed products, the store sells consignment antiques, as well as artwork, refinished furniture and home products made using reclaimed materials by local artists.

Gainer expects to begin filling the second floor with inventory soon, and has plans to turn the third floor into an incubator of relevant workshops – affordable space where glazers, reupholsterers and other artisans can open up shop and offer compatible services to the store’s customers.

via ReUse in the Milk-Bone district – Business – The Buffalo News.

Construction Waste Management Market to Grow at 9.67% CAGR to 2019 – Press Release Rocket

Construction waste management allows reuse and recycling of waste materials such as concrete, wood, plastic, and glass and can. This resolves supply shortages at construction sites as recycled construction waste can be reused as building material. Developed countries such as the US, the UK, and Germany and developing countries such as China, India, and Brazil are the major construction waste generators.

Further, the report states that illegal dumping of waste is a major factor hindering construction waste management market growth.

The analysts forecast global construction waste management market to grow at a CAGR of 9.67% by revenue over the period 2014-2019.

via Construction Waste Management Market to Grow at 9.67% CAGR to 2019 – Press Release Rocket.

Reclaimed Gym Flooring and Bleachers from Pioneer Millworks Puts Eco-Minded School Design Firm Ahead of the Class

The material was sourced from Geneva Middle School, just 55 miles from Ashley McGraw and 28 miles from Pioneer Millworks. “Sourcing this so close to our headquarters, from a school I attended and specifically from a gym I played sports in, was remarkable,” shares Jered Slusser, reclaimed wood expert at Pioneer Millworks. “When Ashley McGraw reached out looking for reclaimed wood for their office remodel, I knew immediately that we had the right product. It is a great fit and it feels good when a local company gives reclaimed wood a second life.”

 

 

via Reclaimed Gym Flooring and Bleachers from Pioneer Millworks Puts Eco-Minded School Design Firm Ahead of the Class.

The three Rs of building: reclaim, reuse, repurpose – Winston-Salem Journal: Home

20150911w_fea_diy

RICCI BUILDERS

“We build new homes and use reclaimed materials to give homes character,” said Ricci, who has recently used reclaimed old wood from a R. J. Reynolds downtown factory building in his construction projects. “There are 100 or 200 years of character in that wood.”

Homeowners feel a great sense of pride over preserving old, valuable materials. They add beauty to the home and become conversation pieces.

20150911w_fea_diyBLACK DOG SALVAGE

via The three Rs of building: reclaim, reuse, repurpose – Winston-Salem Journal: Home.

Big Green Recycling Machine – Urban Milwaukee

Stained glass windows salvaged by WasteCap Resource Solutions. Photo by Amanda Mickevicius.Stained glass windows salvaged by WasteCap Resource Solutions. Photo by Amanda Mickevicius.

WasteCap receives a “Raz-List” from the City of Milwaukee. This list includes foreclosed homes and buildings that will be torn down one way or the other. Some are eligible for deconstruction, meaning they torn down by hand by workers, rather than razed by machines. Ogden says the price tag on razing a house is $15,000 charged to the city, so deconstruction saves money for taxpayers. WasteCap also pays the city for materials salvaged from tear-downs.

via Big Green Recycling Machine – Urban Milwaukee.

Waste not, want not – The Construction Index

Above: Construction waste is segregated and stockpiled for re-use on other sites

Current figures show that the UK recycles more of its construction and demolition (C&D) waste than most other EU countries. Some projects have recorded landfill diversion rates of more than 90% while the overall average rate in 2012 was a respectable 66.4%. That average rate is predicted to increase to 75.5% by 2020. An optimistic estimate, maybe, but still in line with the Waste Framework Directive which set a 2020 recycling rate target of 70% (by weight) for re-use, recycling and other recovery of C&D waste.

via Waste not, want not.

Reclaimed Piano Chandelier – Gallery: Lighting and Wall Treatments 1 – Stroudfoot Design…Sleek Decay…Furnishings & Lighting…Custom, Turn-Key…Design-Build

Reclaimed Piano Chandelier.jpg

MATERIALS: Piano keys reclaimed from early 20th Century piano. Bulbs: 3 x 1 ft incandescent display bulbs.

Stroudfoot’s full-service workshop and design studio is located in Liberty Village in downtown Toronto. Clients are invited to tour its studio to view Stroudfoot’s inventory of reclaimed raw materials, an inventory replenished through regular sourcing around Ontario and the NE United States. From antique woods to one-off vintage pieces, the workshop and design studio is at the heart of Stroudfoot.

via Reclaimed Piano Chandelier – Gallery: Lighting and Wall Treatments 1 – Stroudfoot Design…Sleek Decay…Furnishings & Lighting…Custom, Turn-Key…Design-Build.

Visionary| Bôhten Eyewear

Bôhten’s mission is to develop a compost management initiative that reuses environmental reclaimed material (barley, wheat, straw, stone) to design our contemporary eyeglasses. We are the representation not yet recognized that seeks to pay homage to a love of fashion without the loss of social responsibility. Join us on our quest as we seek to change the face of Africa with a vision that advocates education, employment both social and environmental awareness for the underprivileged. This is a journey that will be nothing short of historic.

via About Us | Bôhten Eyewear.

No landfill for convention center’s old carpet | Finance & Commerce

No landfill for convention center’s old carpet

Workers remove carpet tiles from the Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave. S., as part of a renovation project. The tiles are available for purchase at Habitat for Humanity ReStores in Willmar and Mankato. (Submitted photo)

The tiles will be available for purchase at Habitat for Humanity ReStores in Willmar and Mankato, said Nathan Benjamin, who heads up the Kansas City-based firm’s new Global Reuse Services operation.

About four semi-truck loads of the tiles have been taken out of the building for new uses, Benjamin said. It’s a big deal, because cushion-backed carpet tiles like those can’t be recycled, he said.

via No landfill for convention center’s old carpet | Finance & Commerce.

Aesthetics of Reclaimed Boards – Inspirit

Reclaimed Scaffolding Board Drawer Unit on Castors with Dark Steel Angular Handles - Filing, or Bedside, Cabinet - www.inspiritdeco.com

The reclaimed scaffolding boards which we use for the majority of our commissions are super quirky and no two are ever the same… they have had a colourful life on building sites and often display some of the following “imperfections”… we think these are actually “perfections” though, and the reason the boards have so much character and appeal!

via Aesthetics of Reclaimed Boards – Inspirit.

‘Spolia’ event examines history, future of reuse | Cornell Chronicle

The practice dates “back to ancient Egypt and perhaps beyond,” Mergold says. “It’s extremely pragmatic and symbolically charged. More than recycling, spolia also has social, cultural and even political dimensions. We think of it as an archaic practice, yet we also think that we have just invented recycling, life hacking and adaptive reuse. In fact, it has been practiced for millennia.”

via ‘Spolia’ event examines history, future of reuse | Cornell Chronicle.

Demolition planning as part of construction – reuse and recycling of parts improves the eco-efficiency of buildings

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland studied the reuse of structural elements in the ReUSE (Repetitive Utilization of Structural Elements) project, which recently ended. VTT also proposes the development requirements for improving the planning linked with demolition and repair. Of these, the most pivotal are the development of the guidelines and legislation supporting reuse, in addition to showing, by means of example targets, the commercial and ecological benefits that can be obtained.

via Demolition planning as part of construction – reuse and recycling of parts improves the eco-efficiency of buildings.

Can deconstruction of vacant homes help grow Detroit’s economy? Some local businesses hope so

Mark Wallace, founder of Wallace Detroit Guitars

Haines says he works with many artisans and craftspeople throughout the region that are developing unique ways of reusing the material, a phenomenon that is aggregating into a burgeoning economy around deconstruction.

via Can deconstruction of vacant homes help grow Detroit’s economy? Some local businesses hope so.

Desso upcycles 20,000 tonnes of chalk from water companies in new Cradle to Cradle initiative

Desso is collaborating with Reststoffenunie, an association of drinking water companies in the Netherlands, to upcycle re-engineered calcium carbonate (chalk) from local drinking water companies such as Brabant Water and WML (Water Maatschappij Limburg). The chalk is positively defined in accordance with C2C criteria and is used for the production of Desso’s carpet tiles with EcoBase backing, which is C2C Silver certified and 100% recyclable in Desso’s own production process.

via Desso upcycles 20,000 tonnes of chalk from water companies in new Cradle to Cradle initiative.

Welsh start-up to build recycling facility for construction and demolition aggregates

Cuddy Recycling Ltd, a start-up firm supported by the Welsh government, is establishing a wood, plasterboard and gypsum recycling centre in South Wales. The centre, which represents an investment on £1.2 million, will be the first of its kind in the area and will create 22 jobs.

The facility will process and recycle demolition aggregates from construction and demolition projects in Wales, in addition to waste timber and plasterboard, which will be sourced from the construction sector and civil amenity sites. The aggregates will be sorted for reuse within the construction industry and waste timber will be used for biomass fuel, panel board manufacture and animal bedding. The plasterboard will be reused in plasterboard manufacture where possible and the gypsum will be recycled as a soil conditioner for application in the agricultural industry. It may also be used as a cement additive.

via Welsh start-up to build recycling facility for construction and demolition aggregates.

Dumpster Diving to Save the Chesapeake Bay | Christy Everett

2014-10-10-Picture1.png

When people think about cutting-edge architecture and design, they often think about high-costs and space-age technology. But a key component of the Living Building Challenge is to use as many recycled and reusable materials as possible to save natural resources, energy, and costs.

So for past year and a half, we’ve been dumpster diving to salvage and use materials for the Brock Center that otherwise would go to the local landfill.

via Dumpster Diving to Save the Chesapeake Bay | Christy Everett.

Importing garbage for energy is good business for Sweden on Vimeo

 

 

Everyone produces waste, and the Swedes are no different. It’s what they do with it that is unusual. Sweden recycles and sorts its waste so efficiently that less than 1 percent ends up in landfills. But perhaps even more interesting, and somewhat controversial, is that Sweden burns about as much household waste as it recycles, over 2 million tons, and converts this to energy. But even with this amount of domestic waste, the country’s 32 waste-to energy (WTE) incineration plants can handle even more. And when Sweden runs out of its own garbage, it offers a service to the rest of garbage-bloated Europe: importing excess waste from other countries.

Importing garbage for energy is good business for Sweden from Sweden on Vimeo.

Upcycled stools by designer Curro Claret and Arrels Fundació for yök Casa + Cultura : TreeHugger

With a simple piece of metal, wood picked up from the street and a desire to create and transform, since 2010 a group of homeless people construct stools, lamps and other pieces of furniture. The project has won awards; however, until now, the most important recognition has been a collaboration with the company Camper to decorate one of its shops with the furniture.

via Upcycled stools by designer Curro Claret and Arrels Fundació for yök Casa + Cultura : TreeHugger.

ReuseConex 2014 | October 23-25, 2014 | Austin, Texas, USA

While it’s true that the “3Rs” have become a catalyzing movement of our times, the “reuse” part of this waste management trilogy is often overlooked. Thanks to ReuseConex, the International Reuse Conference & Expo, this is about to change!

If you work with a local reuse organization, if you shop at thrift stores or online resellers, if you buy or sell reusables, if you’re interested in green-collar jobs, and if you’re concerned about climate change – then join us for ReuseConex!

The theme for ReuseConex 2014 is Innovate. Transform. Sustain. — and we hope you’ll join us while we explore new methods and replicable models to make reuse work for your community. At ReuseConex you will find out more about the “triple bottom line” benefits of reuse, learn from and share best practices, and network with leaders in the reuse industry. Join us!

via ReuseConex – International Reuse Conference & Expo.