andrewsreclaimed's Profile

It's about time...

Hello Landis thank you for this post!

@Emmi, I definitely understand your concern, and hope my answers help.

All of my food-contact items, such as seed starting trays, herb planters, and soap dishes come from fresh mill end cut blocks, new construction end trimmings, or otherwise natural wood waste with no end use short of burning or chipping for landscape cover, pulled from the waste stream.

I recycle these materials for a variety of reasons, including:

1. They are natural, fresh, and not sawn from trees for my end use, but technically and truly waste from other commercial wood uses separate from my own. They are diverted from the waste stream, from the landfill, chipper, or fireplace, and re-used for smaller products either used for growing, or as an alternative to other similar products of unknown origin.

2. Short lengths. Many of these blocks of wood or cutoffs range from 8” to 16” long and come to me in rough condition, but clean and ready for re-sawing. Often this culled material is cracked, but with careful planning, it can be efficiently re-sawn and re-used in a very small with little space with relatively small tools and therefore less energy consumption.

Here is my best example of the end waste stock. As you can see, the top piece below the unsanded harb planter is in rough state, the bottom wider blocks are smooth after flattening by planing. I normally do this before re-sawing, as any warped or cracked boards can be dangerous to work with unless flattened.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33887914@N05/5727225994/in/photostream

It’s a rewarding process for me. It feels right, and I am lucky to have had the chance to develop my abilities this way. Seriously, it can be a LOT of work at times, but absolutely worth it to me, and our great Mother who will look kindly upon those who do their best to make a difference.

Aside from my re-use of wood waste, I also package efficiently. 100% of any shipping box over a cubic foot or so is post-consumer packaging. Not shoe boxes or cereal boxes, but larger containers from other products, or panels of cardboard taken from much larger boxes and re-cut and folded. This helps me with controlling shipping costs, weight, package volume (and therefore impact), and of course it is something I do because it feels right, and goes along with the theme of this my labor of love.

Andrew

www.etsy.com/shop/andrewsreclaimed