There are bats living around my parent's house. I wanted to build them a house of their own. They seem to like the barn - we think the scratches on the wall below the eaves might be from bats landing and climbing their way up into shelter. They only seem to exist below the eaves, so I'm hoping that's a good sign that they'll notice their new house quickly.

If you've seen my other posts here, you'll know I try to make everything I build out of old materials, stuff I find on trash day, pull from construction debris, or get from my local Everything is Free page, so that was part of the challenge of building this one. I pretty much managed it - the only thing I bought new was the caulking I used to seal the joints, everything else, wood, stains, screws, bituthene, etc was all old stuff.

I started with a kind of motley collection of materials but I like the challenge of finding secondhand stuff that'll work. On the uphand, I didn't have to cut up bigger lumber just to make the spacers, they were all small scraps from other projects. I don't remember where I got the nice piece of half-inch cabinet plywood. The 3/8" plywood came from a fellow I met through Everything is Free, and the pine boards were found on trash day.

I followed this guide: https://www.mass.gov/doc/build-a-four-chamber-bat-house/download from the state of Massachusetts as closely as I could since we're in a similar region, though I had to make it slightly narrower than the specified 17.5 inches because of the dimensions of the 1/2" plywood. I also made the roof slightly wider, because the board was already that length and it seemed like it would offer additional protection, so no need to shorten it.

We had access to a laser cutter through a local makerspace, so my SO and I decided to burn a paisley pattern into the smaller panels just as a quick flourish. I'm actually very pleased with how that little detail looked on the finished version, and it's something I'll play with in future furniture building projects. The sides were slightly longer than the laser cutter's working space, so I had to carve a little of the pattern by hand, but once it was stained they blended in pretty well.

The instructions tell you to cut groves into the interior surfaces to make it easier for the bats to climb. For most of them I did regular horizontal lines, 1/4" to 1/2" apart, but I got bored a couple times and cut climbable murals instead. I tried to emphasize lots of horizontal handholds, and I made sure that each compartment got at least one regular 'ladder' too. Given that they seem to already be climbing the wooden siding of the barn, I think they'll still find this pretty usable.

The instructions all said to stain it with water based stain so the fumes/smell wouldn't bother the bats. I did all the interior surfaces with a can of expresso water-based stain and the outside surfaces with two coats of oil-based stain for improved water resistance (and because I ran out of the water-based stuff). I left all the panels leaning upright on our porch for several weeks so they could offgas with good ventilation, prior to assembly. All the stains came from Everything is Free.

I decided to stain the paisley panels with red mahogany stain and the rest with two coats of ebony to give them a little more contrast. This left the roof and front stained black for maximum sun-warming. On the front paisley panel, which had a frame around the pattern, I did my best to do the inside in red and the frame in black, to match the sides. It was all pretty much hidden by the very distinct grain that piece of plywood happened to have. A prestain might have helped, though I mostly wish I'd had more of the cabinet plywood I used for the upper front and back.

I started assembly by attaching the back to the sides, and started that by caulking the joint. The silicone caulking was the only thing I bought new for this project. I could probably have kept asking around until I found some, but I settled for giving the rest of the tube away on Everything is Free because I didn't think I'd use it for anything before it expired. The directions emphasized that you really want a good seal everywhere except the specified vents, because the bats need to be warm and dry, so I made sure to seal all the exterior joints well.

Once it was all assembled, I added a coat of oil-based urethane to the top and sides of the roof to help with water resistance. If it warped, that could allow drafts and additional moisture intrusion. I also added little bits of trim to the sides under the roof, after sealing that joint a second time.

We hung it partly using some metal strips my dad had from past projects, for attaching chimneys to the roofing around them. They were galvanized and a kind of corrugated pattern. I found two sets of two where the existing holes lined up, and drilled two new ones in each set so they all had four. Then I painted them and attached them to the back.

Another relative provided a scrap of bituthene which we stuck/stapled to the roof for additional waterproofing.

Once it was ready, I pushed it to the top of a tall ladder leveled it against the wall, and put two screws through each metal bracket, then two screws through the landing strip at the bottom, and two toenailed in through the vents on the sides. I'm told that was overkill but I really didn't want any bats we housed to fall off the wall someday. At this point, if it goes, it'll take the siding with it.

You'd be surprised how many stores sell bleach, soda, baking soda and citrus acid. It's cheap, very low in waste, and less to carry from the store.

The ones I have even describe how to use them for different use cases. Basically you just put it in some water. A package costs like a euro and lasts you a year if not years.

Edit: Here's the list:.

• Water: Helps you mix and rinse; cleans almost everything. :)
• Washing Soda: Great for tough stains on clothes and hard surfaces.
• Baking Soda: Sprinkle on carpets or scrub sinks; it's a gentle cleaner.
• Bleach: Need to kill germs or whiten whites? Use bleach, but carefully!
• Citrus Acid: Makes your kettle or showerhead shine by removing scale.
• Rubbing Alcohol: Perfect for glass and wiping down surfaces; dries fast.
• White Vinegar: Mix with water for an all-purpose cleaner; good on glass too.
• Borax: Boosts your laundry detergent; helps keep bugs away.
• Sea Salt: Scrubbing a pan? Sea salt helps scrape away the tough bits.
• Castille Soap: Wash floors, dishes, or even pets; it's mild and versatile.

I've noticed that the Nivea roll-on deodorants I'm using are pretty easy to open after used up, but haven't found any refill fluid on the market.

I know some people use powders etc, I'm not willing to try that, but does anyone know of a reasonably priced refill?

Pine isn't the perfect material for tool handles, I wouldn't use it for anything that's going to bear an impact like a hammer or axe handle. But it turns easily, and cleans up pretty nice. I've used lengths of Christmas Tree trunk both because it was quick/easy (as for this quick handle for a file) and because it's nice when the materials have their own story, and I can preserve a bit of a special time in something I make.

I don’t know what the slrpnk.net opinion on Christmas trees is. Around where I live, when a farm or orchard goes out of business, developers turn it into another subdivision. A tree farm might not be an ideal habitat, but I’m willing to bet on it being better than another clearcut, paved, human neighborhood. So for us, we figure we can give some money to the Boys and Girls Club, help keep a farm solvent, and then use the wood left over for projects. I think this fits the zerowaste ethos well enough.

I've got two examples to show off today. The first one was actually the very first thing I made on the lathe after I got it restored . We had a few years of Christmas Tree trunks drying at the time, so it was an easy, low-stakes material to start with, and already round, which makes starting on the lathe easier.

The finished version was obviously pretty crude, but I didn't want it to go to waste, and I liked the feel of it, so I attached it to an old file I got at a junk store awhile back.

I've been using it for several years now with no problems.

The second example is a knife repair, (though on this one I chose the Christmas Tree wood more for sentimental reasons than for convenience). This was a gift/repair for my grandmother - a few years ago she threw a party, and someone dropped this knife on the floor. The bakelite handle shattered near the top. She was going to throw it away but I said I'd make a new handle for it, though I'll admit it took me a few years to get around to it.

Step 1 was to take the handle the rest of the way apart and get just the blade and it's decorations separated from the broken plastic.

I cut this piece of pine from the trunk of our 2020 Christmas tree after it had had awhile to dry. It was the same piece I carved most of the koroks from though this piece was too skinny to fit any koroks inside easily.

I'm still very much an amateur at turning, and made some mistakes as I went, but I learned a lot on this one, and was able to get some results I was pleased with.

I cut the top to fit the little decorative cap, drilled a line of holes for the tang of the blade, and did some test fits and adjustments. I also cleaned up the bottom end and sanded it with all the same grits of paper the rest of it got.

I wanted the stain to be a reminder of the original handle, so I started with gunstock (a very bright, orange-red color) and then while it was still wet, I worked in Red Oak, which is darker and more brown. This deepened it and brought out some nice detail in the grain. The red oak on its own turned the test pieces very dark brown, and it wasn't as visually interesting, so I'm glad I did it this way.

I followed that up with four coats of high-gloss polyurethane, with some light sanding in between. The pine was thirsty - drank up the urethane in some spots on the first coats so you wouldn't think any had been applied. Eventually I got a nice, even finish.

On the Zerowaste side, the blade was old and I was able to put it back in use. The wood was left over from a Christmas tree. All the stains were found on our local Everything is Free group, or left over from old projects. The urethane was also leftover. The project cost time and electricity, but nothing beyond that.

Hi Punks! I am wondering what would be the best option to do some eco waste recycling at home? I am living in a small flat and have a balcony where I am trying to grow some veggies and herbs. Lately I am getting targeted apps about worm farms that you can have either in your flat (because apparently they don't smell?) Or on a balcony. Does anyone have experience with this? Or does it make more sense to simply compost? I think you can use bokashi as well to compost that has some microorganisms? I am wondering what would be the best option smell wise and suitable for smaller amounts of waste and space. If anybody has some experience to share I'd be grateful :)

If you've seen any of my previous posts here, you may have noticed that I enjoy woodworking. I’m also very sentimental, so I save our Christmas trees after we take them down, dry them, strip the branches, and keep the trunks for future projects. I think it’s nice to have that bit of story behind something you make.

(I don’t know what the slrpnk.net opinion on Christmas trees is. Around where I live, when a farm or orchard goes out of business, developers turn it into another subdivision. A tree farm might not be an ideal environment, but I’m willing to bet on it being better than another clearcut, paved, human neighborhood. So for us, we figure we can give some money to the Boys and Girls Club, help keep a farm solvent, and then use the wood for projects.)

I use them for small items mostly – I’ve got a set of lathe projects I plan to show off next, but for the moment, I’m going to focus on the little carvings I’ve been doing.

My wife loves the new zelda games, especially searching for koroks. (Koroks are little forest spirits that live in the game and hide all over the game map. Finding them can be as simple as picking up a rock or more complicated, doing timed challenges or figuring out a mild puzzle.) She shares the Nintendo Switch with my brother- and sister-in-law though, so I hide these little guys around our apartment for her to find when she can't play.

Like I said, the wood comes from our Christmas trees and the paint I use for their leaves is 15-year-old acrylics from back when I played warhammer. Electricity and time spent, but no new materials.

I start by using the bandsaw to cut a section of tree trunk from the Christmas tree. I use the belt sander to flatten one side, then use the band saw to square it up a bit, similar to ripping full-size tree trunks into dimensional boards on a sawmill (I don't like to lose too much material, but you need at least a couple flat sides to safely rip the piece lengthwise and so you can draw on one side and still lay it flat while you cut it out.

After I cut them out, I rough them into shape with the belt sander and a boxcutter, then a dremel.

Before sanding, I like to paint the mask. This gives it plenty of time to dry (so I can come back and make adjustments) while I sand the main body. I'm not as good at painting as I was when I was a kid, but I can still do a bit of detail work when I have to.

Then I do lot of sanding with sandpaper. I like to read a ebook while I sand out any blemishes.

I drill through the mask for the branch/nose (if there is one), and use the same dab of glue to attach the nose as to fasten the mask to the korok. After I glue the mask on, I set them on a bench outside to dry - I remember super glue fogging my warhammer minis, and airflow is supposed to help.

One of the really things I love about woodcarving is the way the wood comes with constraints that can shape the final piece. You have to adjust your plans as you find quirks and irregularities in the material, or as you damage it or make mistakes. It feels a bit like a collaboration between you and your work. I generally really like working around constraints.

You can usually find two koroks in each three-inch piece of tree trunk, but it depends on the size of the koroks you're looking for. Sometimes it turns out there isn't a korok in a piece of wood. Sometimes there's just a mask.

These are fun, and quick to make - at this point, they usually go from a chunk of tree to a finished, painted carving in about 4 hours. I could probably take more time and put more detail into them, but to be honest, making sure there's a lot of them to find was a higher priority for me than sanding out every blemish or making the leaf as thin as possible in pine.

At this point, I've almost used up our 2020 tree. Its branches have been useful when I need wooden pegs, and now that I have a lathe to work with, the already-round, dried wood is useful for that. Luckily I have a few more to work with.

So if anybody wants a solution they won't have to scour the internet for what are essentially the same uses over and over again

Here's a short list I made through searching this sub and other threads+articles:
#WARNING: Keeping your phone constantly plugged into the charger for long periods of time may cause the battery to swell up and potentially explode
#WARNING: Keeping the screen on constantly on a phone with an OLED screen will likely cause burn-in eventually

Keep it as a backup phone
Dedicated camera
Dedicated music player (especially LG phones with qDAC)
Baby/pet monitor
Use it as a smart doorbell
Use it to record POVs akin to GoPros
Smart Home controller
Bedside alarm clock
Universal remote
Remote PC controller
Help science by lending your phones power for research
Dedicated eReader
Dedicated gaming machine
Webcam
Dedicated car phone for GPS etc
Dashcam
Digital photo frame
Education tool for kids
Video call device
Wifi extender/hotspot
Host a media server on it (Plex etc)
Host a normal server on it (c. /u/3Werve)
Timelapse camera
Give it to kids
PC Statistics (CPU, GPU usage)
Wireless adapter for wired controllers
Kitchen recipe guide
PC Monitor
Macro pad for PC
White noise machine
Disassemble and make an art piece out of it
Experimentation (e.g trying out apps or ROMs)
Dedicated chat device (Whatsapp, Telegram etc) (c. /u/utakatikmobil)
Cast Receiver (c. /u/Substantial_Berry_14)
m3u IPTV player (c. Substantial_Berry_14)

###No uses fit you?

Donate it
Recycle it
Sell it

I may link to examples or guides but for now im a bit too lazy. Googling should be enough, if not add site:reddit.com to the end of your query

This one was scratch-built as a gift. They wanted a shoe rack and sent me some links of examples for sale on amazon. The designs weren’t consistent, so I took what I felt were good features from each and built one from lumber I had.

Most of it was just pressure treated 2”x4”s someone on Everything Is Free had been looking to get rid of while cleaning out under his deck (these are the ones with thick, visible grain and a slight greenish tinge (always wear a dust mask while sanding but especially for these)) and older heat-treated 2”x4” whose origin I don’t remember.

The top section's side plates and the supports for the lower shelf were cut from lengths of white-primed trim – these were edge-glued boards, meaning they were glued together from pieces of smaller scrap, and had zig-zaggy joints straight across the face of the lumber here and there. Because these joints are kind of ugly and not as strong as the regular wood, I cut sections from it that didn’t include them. Then I sanded off the white primer (wear a dust mask for this too) so I could stain them to match the rest of the piece.

The hardest part was finding something for the shelves themselves. I had a few thin lengths but not enough, and ended up posting to the Everything is Free page with a couple example photos asking if anyone had something close. Within minutes a guy offered up some bedrails he’d found on garbage day. He had taken them so they wouldn’t go to waste but didn’t have a project in mind and was happy to offer them up. I sanded them down smooth and cut them to length.

Wherever I can, I use wood screws as they’re much easier to remove than nails. But for a piece of furniture with very visible joints like this, I used finish nails almost everywhere. I also glued the joints as I nailed them so they wouldn’t work apart (this was especially necessary on the top, as the finish nails were thin brads and the slats liked to try to wander as I hammered others into place).

Once it was done, I treated it to the usual stain and polyurethane (both left over from previous projects, the stain I think was second-hand).

I was pleased with the final product - it's surprisingly sturdy for something without any 45's in the design - and the recipient liked it quite a bit, which is what matters.

This was a kind of odd project, but I think it’ll fit. Back when I was researching ways to reuse plastic from 3d-printers, I ran across a thread discussing HDPE, turning plastic bags (if you can find only filmed HDPE ones) into printer filament through something like a filastruder, and that got me thinking about milk jugs. HDPE is a very strong plastic, is readily available, and can tolerate being re-melted better than many others. When melted and formed into shapes, it’s hard, and glossy/smooth.

My experimental design was simple, a little owl figure (like a squishmallow) to make into a necklace for my spouse.

I carved a simple wooden mold, and set up outside with an old toaster oven (the fumes can be dangerous, it’s important not to heat it anywhere near 400 degrees Fahrenheit – I found 250 to be more than sufficient). I cut part of a milk jug into thin strips and piled them on a piece of sheet tin and let them soften in the oven. Once they were soft and sticky, I used a pair of pliers to wad them into a ball and pressed them into the mold.

It took a little clean up (trimming the flat disk of extra plastic which forms between the two sides of such a crude mold and adding the faint little face) but it worked alright. After a few tries, the soft pine of the mold started to compress a little, the softer wood around the dark grain receding slightly so the grain marked the plastic.

It was an interesting one-off with some potential, but probably better done by people who know more than I do. I don’t generally like plastic projects like this because of the scrap which isn’t going to get accepted by a recycling center (if they actually recycle it at all) but I like the potential for local reuse of material and I could always melt it again. I thought about making a beta fish mold, so the disk of extra would form its fins, but never got around to it and let the project drop. As materials go, it actually feels pretty nice to touch and to carve, and I could see perhaps using it to make tool handles or something similar, if for some reason I wanted plastic rather than wood, which generally works best for me.

This was a recent one, kind of the start of refinishing furniture with the intent to give it away on our local Buy Nothing -type page. We found this old kid-sized chair on the curb on garbage day. The finish (some kind of shellac, I think) was peeling or gone in places, the wood was a bit weathered, scuffed, and water stained.

I sanded it down and posted a photograph of it with the bare wood, surrounded by cans of stain, to the facebook group, offering it up with a promise I’d stain it whatever color they picked form the pile (or provided themselves) and urethane it. I ended up having to do a little raffle as there was a decent amount of interest. The winner picked a nice medium brown color and I stained it and urethaned it.

The person who received it was delighted – it turned out she was a retired teacher, and had fond memories of these chairs. She brought us a pot-holder her granddaughter had knitted to thank us for it (which was unexpected but very nice!).

This was an interesting one – we found this table on the curb on garbage day. The finish on the tabletop was peeling and rough. Possibly from water damage? We knew it would be challenging because the surface had a very thin wood veneer on it, but it wasn’t likely to be taken by anyone else in this condition so we lugged it home to try fixing it.

We had to sand the finish off, but we also had to be careful to avoid sanding through the veneer. We used a very smooth sandpaper (starting with 220 grit) and carefully sanded with the grain for each panel so as not to scratch the wood.

Once we had it completely cleaned off, we finished it with high gloss polyurethane. I don’t think we stained the wood first but it’s been awhile and it’s possible we did. This picture is during the first coat (applied following the grain). Once it was dry we sanded very lightly, wiped away the dust, and coated it again.

When I think about salvaging these things, I tell myself it's not just the wood (decompostable or burnable for power) that I'm salvaging, but the resources and person-hours spent making it. Trees were cut and hauled and milled to size, the pieces transported, machined down, turned on lathes, planed, routed, cut, and glued. Even on a factory-made piece there's a bit of history and it's worth keeping around if possible.

So I’m a huge fan and advocate of groups where people give away things they don’t want anymore. And if it’s cool, I’m just going to rant about them for a bit.

What are they:

So for this, I’m talking about online groups, usually covering a very small geography like a town, where people can either offer up things they don’t want anymore rather than throwing them away, and where people who need things can post a request or In Search Of (ISO) for specific things in case anyone has one they don’t need.

Why they’re good:

They help people find things they need without money changing hands. Whether you’re struggling financially, or just getting something you’d otherwise have spent money on, it makes everyone’s life a little easier.

They connect people to their neighbors. I’ve met hundreds of people from my city over the last few years, some frequently, some just once. My favorite has been getting to know my nextdoor neighbor as we cleaned out his house – the circumstances weren’t great, but for months I saw him every day when I helped him photograph items, find people who wanted them, and give them away. We became pretty good friends through the process, and because he’s the kind of guy who sits on his front porch and talks with anyone who’ll stop, he had an awesome time visiting with everyone who came to get something.

It knocks items out of the “resources extracted → product sold → product used → product thrown away” cycle, at least for a little bit.

I can remember walking around my neighborhood years ago and seeing someone unwrapping brand new tomato trellises (we were also planting at the time), then a few streets over, finding a stack of them leaning against a trash can, and just being struck by the disconnect there. Here was a stack of metal on its way to (hopefully) recycling, while someone else had had to buy the same thing to do the same job brand new. Somewhere steel and other metals had been extracted as ores, transported, smelted, cast into wire, possibly transported again, shaped/welded into a trellis, wrapped in plastic, transported again, bought at a store, and transported again. But because the person throwing them away and the person who needed them were disconnected, one set was going to be transported to the dump while a new one was being set up. It’s a small and kind of silly example, but it happens constantly, with tons of items, just in the waste stream.

I have access to an e-waste bin where companies throw away functional computer monitors, laptops, tablets, mice, cables, adapters, monitor stands, and all kinds of other bits and pieces. I carry great bags of them home and offer them up on my local group. So far, I’ve found interested people (usually tons of them) for each item I’ve brought back. I consider reuse and continued use to be much better than recycling, especially for functional tech, and at the same time, it helps my community, providing devices to people who need them. (I’ve recently started diverting the working computers and tablets to a local charity helping Ukrainian refugees, many of whom have no computer/device at all – this helps them get on their feet, work on resumes etc).

Then there’s the items that people are holding on to because they don’t want to throw them away, but aren’t using/don’t need. A few years ago I asked if anyone had a digital picture frame, so I could set one up for my grandmother. A lady from my city said she had one sitting in a closet, she’d bought it for her mother but it never got used, and she didn’t want to throw it away still new in its box. I saw an ISO for an Apple computer monitor (an old CRT version) and checked with my neighbor, who I knew had been putting off driving some monitors to the recycling center because of the fees and because they’re heavy. He had the exact model the guy wanted – and the guy was thrilled, because it’s not like they’re making new antique monitors. Every one recycled is that many fewer components available to people who are into collecting and building those machines. Even better, my neighbor and the guy who wanted the monitor appear to have hit it off and are becoming friends.

We’d already filled our apartment with reclaimed/fixed-up furniture, but I’ve recently started making a hobby out of finding furniture on garbage day, refinishing them, and giving them away. My goal has been to never use new-bought materials, and thanks to the lumber, stain, urethane, paint, etc frequently available in my group, I’ve mostly been able to do that.

Finding these groups:

They seem to work best if they’re very local organizations. So far they seem to be mostly set up on facebook, but I’ll be happy to showcase any other examples anyone has. The biggest and probably best organized one I have found is Buy Nothing:

https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group

I feel like I should mention that there’s been (as in all things that involve groups of people) a good deal of drama within some of these groups, especially under the Buy Nothing name/brand. It generally looks to me like people who want to do good for each other and their communities, but just disagree on the best way to do it, but you may want to look for local alternatives. My favorite groups operate under the name Everything is Free, which appears to be a bit less formally/centrally organized, but because of that, probably a bit harder to find/less organized.

https://www.curbed.com/2023/02/buy-nothing-gifting-with-integrity-drama.html

There are also dedicated websites like freecycle, and the Buy Nothing app – I think there’s some value to setting these things up in the spaces people already occupy, but as someone who has increasingly fled into federated alternatives, I can also understand wanting to disconnect from big social media sites.

One of my hobbies is restoring/building furniture in a zero waste kind of mindset, where all my materials are either from EIF or found on garbage day. Ideally the only waste is my own hours/calories and the electricity (though I do pay the local company for what they assure us is all green energy). If it’s okay with the instance, I’d love to share some of them here. (I think they’ll fit better here than in DIY as I’m not really giving the kind of thorough steps necessary to build one yourself)

I’m fairly active on my local Everything is Free page, which has been awesome. It’s a wonderful community dedicated to helping each other and reducing waste, and my first real step towards meeting my actual community since moving to this city (besides meeting my neighbors in the building and next door).

Awhile back someone posted an In Search Of for a saddle stand. They rented a horse but owned a saddle and apparently you can’t store them flat. They had a sewing machine case they were using for it, but were looking for a towel rack or similar that would look a little nicer.

I have a decent little wood shop in the basement of our apartment, and have hoarded a lot of lumber (and more lumber shows up on EIF every day) so I offered to just build one to her specifications. It was a really fun project, she was super friendly and flexible about the design/timeline, which worked out well because it took me a little over six months to make it – though most of that was time spent waiting for suitable materials to show up.

A quick search of the internet showed two types of stands I thought I could make – pedestal ones, and traditional ones with flat sides on either end. Flat sides were definitely more practical, as you can add a shelf to store things underneath, but they would have required 1”x12”s or something equivalent, which I didn’t have. So I decided to focus on the top and wait to see what showed up.

The slats are cut from old oak floorboards I pulled from a dumpster when a local furniture maker/finish carpenter was retiring and cleaning out his workshop. We got talking and he gave me some nice stuff as well, including some thin slats of some exotic hardwoods neither of us could identify. The hardwoods and oak floorboards I ripped to the final size using a tablesaw and plainer.

The project went on hold for lack of time and materials for awhile, until a neighbor threw away a nice pedestal table. They had disassembled the thing, including stripping all the hardware that normally hinged and supported the two leafs, so I didn’t feel too bad about taking its base right before the garbage truck got there (I took the top too, and plan to use it as well but I’ll get to that at the end)

I was then able to work out a design for the stand using the pedestal. I drew up two endcaps and cut them from some beautiful oak cabinet wood the furniture maker had given me (getting both endcaps out of the piece was tricky). Then, to support all the slats, I cut two smaller versions of the same shape from scraps of an ikea bookshelf I’d used in building an arcade cabinet (a different, more ambitious zero-waste project). The smaller pieces were pine, which wouldn’t match the oak base in grain, but it wouldn’t matter because they’d be hidden by the bigger endcaps and the slats on the tops/sides.

I assembled these pieces, stained them to match the base as closely as I could get it using stains I already had (mostly golden oak I already had, but also some very old stains from my grandparents’ basement which hadn’t been brought to the dump yet, and which helped get the different woods to match) and urethaned it with gloss polyurethane.

To support the upper part I took the last piece of a very warped 2”x”6, I’ve been slowly using up, sanded it until it was roughly square, and drilled holes so I could use the table’s original bolts to attach it to the stand. (I stained it as well). I leveled it the rest of the way and made sure the endcaps would cover it entirely by cutting a notch into either end. Then I set the top part on it, and drove six screws up through the bottom of that into either endcap.

It’s not my biggest zero waste woodworking project, but I think it came out well, and they were really happy when they came to get it which was nice.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.de/post/678430

I learned about reusing (carefully cleaned and dried out) juice bottles to use to store dry foods like lentils, rice, flour, sugar, etc. I am excited to do this. I am also using milk jugs but some people would only use PETE plastic. Here are some links. https://www.thriftyfun.com/Reuse-Jugs-for-Dry-Foods.html https://theprovidentprepper.org/packaging-dry-foods-in-plastic-bottles-for-long-term-food-storage/ it should keep insects out but rodents can chew through the plastic. if you have a rodent problem you can just store the jugs of food in thicker plastic containers though

you can wash out and reuse the little plastic tub containers that things like yogurt and cottage cheese come in and if you like, you can remove the ink labeling with a cloth or paper towel, 100% acetone nail polish remover, and a little bit of elbow grease I'm really excited about getting free containers