Salvaged wood from neighbourhood renovations waiting to be recycled in Airini's shed.
Salvaged wood from neighbourhood renovations waiting to be recycled in Airini's shed.
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One way of preventing further habitat loss is reducing demand for land and resources; one way of doing this is by reusing or repurposing what we already have.
The zero-waste aesthetic that many people are interested in applying to things like food storage and textiles can also be applied to the resource of wood.
Native logging on public land ended in 2002, and although it is still allowed on private land, native timber is a rare resource.
A lot of older buildings dating from before the 1970s are built from native timber.
When people renovate or demolish buildings, some of the timber is commercially recycled, but a lot also gets thrown out.
This is a potential bonanza for skip-divers, hobby woodworkers, upcyclers and home handypeople.
In the early 1990s Whanganui Girls' College was refitting some science labs. My dad came home with a few sets of native timber cupboards and some sturdy wooden lab stools.
The cupboards are still in use in my parents' shed, and the lab stools have stood the test of time, the inevitable graffiti sanded back revealing the quality of the original wood.
In an interesting echo, in the late 2000s I was working at Wellington Girls' College, and the caretaker put out a staff email asking if anyone wanted free firewood from under the school.
I went to look with my mum, who was visiting at the time, and we discovered stacks of precious rimu and tōtara, much of it still in fine condition and in quite large planks and tabletops.
Airini Beautrais
Not all demolition wood comes in good shape. Sometimes it is splintered or broken, or filled with nails. Rimu tends to split easily, particularly pieces like skirting boards.
Broken pieces can be cut to size and shape for smaller projects, and de-nailing can be a fun meditative activity. As well as native and other timbers from building demolition, lots of wood recycling takes place via the reuse of items such as railway sleepers, cable reels, shipping crates and pallets.
You might find bits of useable wood on the beach, sometimes with interesting layers of paint or edges smoothed by the sea. You might also find old furniture at second-hand shops or garage sales that could be rejuvenated or repurposed.
A lot of resources are now available online and in books helping people find designs or projects for timber upcycling. These range from small items such as jewellery stands and simple planter boxes, to tiny houses or entire buildings.
Woodworking is the kind of activity that can be shared by family members, a school holiday project to help get kids away from screens. As well as the potential to save trees, there's also the potential to have a lot of fun and be creative.
You might also make something beautiful and long-lasting rather than buying something new made of plastic or MDF. Depending on your skills, your creations may be rustic and rough around the edges, but authentically yours. Or you can support local artisans by buying their recycled woodwork.
