Save our landfills ..

[Tumbleweed]

Save the landfills for REAL trash! One of my pet peeves is how wasteful we are here in the U.S. I watch those shows where people are flipping houses or remodeling and it makes me sick to see what they put in our land fills.

Remember that saying, "One mans trash is another mans treasure".

So I wanted to start this thread so we can all give ideas on how to recycle.

[Tumbleweed]

Instead of taking a sledge hammer to kitchen cabinets you want to upgrade, advertise them in your local "Thrifty" newspaper that if they take them down they can have them for free. Or be a good guy and stop looking at $$$ signs and take them down screw by screw (if they are not built on-site) and donate them. (It really won't take all that much longer) I see so many cabinets, that I'd be happy to use in my garage or basement, get busted to peices. I'm sure there are many poor people who would be thrilled to have some of the fixtures in these homes.

[Tumbleweed]

Also think about contacting a salvage yard. There are many things in your home that they may want to recycle.

Like faucets & plumbing fixtures of good quality
Kitchen handles/knobs
Storm windows and doors of good quality
Old wood - you know, like trim pieces that are unique

[Tumbleweed]

And before you bust up that prefab counter top you may be able to easily unscrew it and use it in your basement or garage for a perfectly fine work space. Or donate it.

[barb]

You can even set the stuff out in your yard with a free sign on it for a day or so if there are no hoa restrictions on doing that.

[Tumbleweed]

Thats very true Barb. Reminds me of a someone saying he put out some stuff on his curb with a sign that said "For Free" and no one took it so he put a sign on it that said "$20.00" and sure enough ....someone stole it.

Seriously, my sister said when she moved she put a lot of stuff, that someone could possibly use, out by the garbage bin and she said he stuff was gone in a matter of minutes. They came like vultures.

[misty]

Join your local Freecycle group! I have gotten some great finds through mine, as well as given away several items that I would have otherwise thrown away.

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,155 groups with 4,039,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!


www.freecycle.org/

[Tumbleweed]

I heard you talk about that before Misty. I will join! I have so much stuff I need to get rid of. Thanks.


You know when we cut the underpart (directly under the window) today making way for the door there was some tongue and groove undersiding (not sure of the proper word) that was gorgeous! It had aged to the richest mahogony-ish color. Looked like it had been stained that way. I'm saving that wood and I can't wait to figure out how I can use it.

[Nigel]

I just signed up to my Local Friendly Neighborhood Freecycle Group.

[Tumbleweed]

Good for you, Nigel! But are you sure they are friendly? Hee hee.

One thing I have got to do is find a place to put my glass. Our garbage recycle people stopping taking glass and now you have to take it to the recycle center but I have no good place to put this glass until I get enough to take. My space is so limited in my kitchen but I'll figure out something.

I've also been wondering if they have glass cutters that go around jars. Sometimes I have the cutest glass jars that I'd love to cut down for juice glasses or whatever. I need to Google that don't I? LOL

[Nigel]

Hmm, I'm sure they do. Have you/can you check at a craft type store if there's one in your area . . .

[Tumbleweed]

I have an old console T.V. that actually still works but I don't use it. It is really made very sturdy and has some nice detail so I was trying to think how I can repurpose it. After close inspection I realized the top would come off as would the control panels.

If I pull out the guts of the T.V. Make a 3 sided box with out of plywood that I can mount directly on the outside of the base of the console or make a smaller box with a bottom and sit it right on top I could use it to house the "modern" T.V. I am using. Then I could just put the top back on which would make it look like it was originally made this way. I could add a shelf where the old guts of the T.V. was for putting the VCR/DVD player, add some doors and the front, give it a pretty paint technique and have a new entertainment center. Cost effective??? Hmmm, not so sure about that but maybe some cheap pine?

What do you think? Maybe I need to do a sketch to see if my concept is possible and for you all to get a visual as to what I'm saying.

[Nigel]

???JJ sounds like a Great Idea, let the sketching begin.

[Tumbleweed]

O.K. I'll start sketching. I'm going to keep track of exactly what it costs to do this, if I decide to do it. And for the fun of it I'm going to keep track of how long I spend on it. Once I'm all done I'll try to keep an eye out for what the going price is for a enclosed T.V. cabinet. Maybe some things are just worth doing to save it going to the land fill even if you could buy something brand new at the same cost. Then again, I have to buy wood and that means trees must die. Oh, the dilemma.

[Tumbleweed]

Well, I found some plywood that will work for parts A, B, C. I have some old cheap carboardy pressed something that will work for "D". I have a scrap piece of nice wood that will work for the shelf, "E". And I'm going to hit Habitat for Humanity and a couple of recycle places and look for a solid cool old door that I can cut in half for the two doors, "F" and "G". All I need to really purchase other than the door are 4 good hinges to hold a heavy door. Oh and paint although I may have some paint in my basement I could mix to get a color I want.