I am a collector, though not quite a hoarder (my wife might disagree) with a penchant for seeing discarded ‘things’ as some ‘thing’ else that could be quite useful.
Perhaps this is a result of growing up a fair jaunt from the hardware store without the economic means to buy whatever I fancied. As kids we made rafts from logs that floated up on the beach, hockey sticks from discarded part sheets of 3/4 inch plywood (uber-heavy sticks believe me), even an amazing ride down Jager’s hill from a discarded kitchen table and the undercarriage from an old baby buggy (which was a cool story in itself until we destroyed the sandbox at the foot of the hill!).
Because I work in IT I have often come across discarded / replaced computer equipment, which I have refurbed and generally given away to people who can’t afford one. Even this computer I am typing on is more than 10 years old, purring away quite nicely on Linux Mint 21!
To the present without further digression.
On one of my freebie / buy nothing groups a member was offering two bags of oak flooring cut ends for fireplace kindling. Now this was 3/4 inch untreated oak flooring people – far too good to just toss into the grate (I do have a fireplace but it has never been used). I expressed an interest and won the deal.
After sifting through the bags I took away the larger pieces for recycling and donated the rest to my neighbours, who heat their place with wood in the winter.
The pictures above are just the first of a number ideas for the cut ends. Who couldn’t use a cellphone stand for their desk (i have two phones that I am constantly hunting for)? And a couple of pieces later I have a new stand for my mini-keyboard. The pegs are from an old abandoned banjo I found, the hairy bits on the phone are from Frieda trying to steal caramel corn off my desk and the hidden legs from some extra Ikea hardware. Too simple – I am doing my bit for climate change and making some cool new gadgets for my desk!
🙂