ReUse Action Staff As usual, the Green Demo Team brought in some pretty neat stuff this past week. The crew is working on a barn deconstruction in Lockport and all voted that the old wagon that was salvaged was by far the best find. The barn doors were awesome, the antique hooks beautiful, but the wagon surpasses all because it is so simply built, yet elegant and strong. Thought we’d share it with our readers to enjoy!
This past Sunday was the first in a series of events, exploring with the Rusted Grain/ReUse Action crew and learning how to use our city as a materials resource. Five trucks gathered in front of Action HQ on Sunday and headed off to the Fillmore district to harvest the treasures to be had as a result of Bulk Trash Day. Bulk Trash Day happens in each council district once every spring and once every fall. A homeowner is allowed to discard as much as they can in a 12′ long x 4′ wide x 4′ high pile on the sidewalk … Read more
Michael recently got an inquiry about sourcing wood lath, the thin strips of pine that form a substrate for an old-fashioned plaster wall. The inquirer was planning to use lath as a wall covering material in a commercial bathroom. Interesting . . . we recycle tons of lath in each house we dismantle and haven’t seen much reuse potential in the material. And here’s another use of wood lath, courtesy of Fine Woodworking magazine in their story about a contest run by the New Orleans ReUse organization “Green Project”. The table’s creator, Robert Portman, was dismayed at the waste of … Read more
The Green Demo crew brings more and more reclaimed materials into Action HQ everyday. The question becomes, what will we do with it? Do we reuse it as is? Can we salvage the good parts? Or better yet, lets get our creative juices flowing and make new items from old stuff! We are now selling our creations online. Included in every purchase is a short introduction to the woodworker or artist who made the piece along with a story of where the material used came from. Below are some first examples, but keep your eyes peeled and check the website … Read more
We are now selling goods made in our woodshop at the Roswell farmer’s market. Wednesdays 11-2pm, in the park off of Oak St. It’s a small market, but with so much diversity of goods! Come check us out and chat with us about our green demo services and our fully stocked woodshop.
Kids are reading less, people use e-books more, and libraries are scrambling for what to do about it. One common solution is to close libraries and get rid of books (sound familiar Buffalo?). Instead, one library in British Columbia is changing the way we think about libraries; they have a collection of “living books,” local experts, who have volunteered to share their knowledge on specific subjects. Want to know about the history of the circus? Want to learn a certain painting technique? “Check out” a living expert that will meet with you to discuss your topic of interest! Libraries remain … Read more
WNY’s First and Only Green Demolition Team in action, loading a dumpster with house panels at our current job in South Buffalo: View it on YouTube here.
A lot of conversation in the building material reuse industry is about closing loops. Rather than having a start and a finish (as in, virgin forest to landfill), we like to see a material come full circle and reenter into use. At Action HQ we are constantly receiving and processing materials and using our woodshop to try and find uses for them. When we have a good idea or something turns out particularly well, we’d like to share with you the creations we come up with! The green demo crew took down a house in South Buffalo this past week … Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the way ReUse Action acquires materials in Buffalo through green demos and salvage jobs and have come to the conclusion that what we are doing is much like mining for coal, only better. What we are essentially doing is a more sustainable form of mining, in cities. We are learning to use our city as an incredible and harvestable resource! Harvesting material that is destined for a landfill, learning how to process it, reuse it and resell it. We are “a community of tradesmen and women, artists, designers, and community members…” changing the … Read more
Our final feature on our most recent class of apprentices… Marcus is the younger brother of Cliff, one of ReUse Action’s full time employees. Marcus came to us late, having worked a few weeks as an apprentice for Empire Building Diagnostics, the demolition group doing work on the upper floors of the hotel, but we’ve gotten to know him well. In the past 5+ years, Marcus has been through a lot—Hurricane Katrina wiped out all that was familiar, his child was born, he moved to Buffalo, etc. On many occasions he’s expressed his interest in finding a stable lifestyle, atmosphere … Read more