If you are like many people, you might worry about the environment, and you might like to do everything that you can to live a sustainable lifestyle. One thing that you might worry about is contributing unnecessarily to landfills. However, there are plenty of ways you can effectively make use of old wood to prevent it from going to waste. If you are worried about wood waste ending up in landfills and are wondering what you can do to prevent it, these tips should be pretty insightful.
Avoid Buying More Wood Than Needed for Projects
First of all, when you are purchasing wood for projects — such as if you’re building a new deck or an outdoor storage building — then you should think carefully about how much wood you’re going to need for your project. After all, you don’t want to run out of wood while you’re working on your project, but you don’t want to purchase a lot more wood than is needed. Not only can this lead to wood ending up in landfills, but it can also lead to you spending more money on your projects than you have to. Careful planning and purposeful shopping for materials can help, though. In the event that you do end up purchasing more wood than you need, consider using the extra material to start another small project.
Compost Old Wood
Did you know that you can compost old wood? This is a particularly good solution if you have rotting wood that you need to get rid of. If you already have a compost pile, then you can add the rotting wood to it. Just make sure that you grind, chip, or chop up the wood before adding it to your compost pile. This helps speed up the process of decomposition and it makes it easier for you to turn your compost when needed. Click here for more info on getting rid of old wood in this way.
Reuse Wood When Possible
In many cases, wood that isn’t rotting can be repurposed and used for other projects. Consider getting creative with some of the scrap wood that you have lying around; you might find that you can come up with lots of great uses for it. If you aren’t sure what you want to build with your excess wood, consider looking for some project ideas online. If you do not intend to use your wood for a future building project, then you can advertise it locally. There’s a good chance that a neighbor, friend, or someone else in your community might be interested in taking your used wood for their own projects, and then you won’t have to worry about the wood ending up in a landfill.
As you can see, there are a variety of different ways that you can keep wood waste out of landfills. If you try some or all of these ideas, then you can do your part to help the environment. Wood is a valuable and versatile material that should never go to waste.
