One of the most unique show gardens at the 2017 Northwest Flower & Garden Show was the display set up by Ballard Reuse.
The entire area was decorated with salvaged items, used very creatively.
This table was made out of bleachers salvaged from a school gym. The patio bricks are salvaged as well.
The placesettings were made from old saw blades, with tools serving as utensils.
A ladder as a vertical planter.
I spoke to Kim from Ballard Reuse about the salvage world. She told me that salvaged materials can sometimes be used to complete entire projects, like flooring. Other types of projects, like roofing, can be harder to finish using salvage, since they often don’t have enough items for an entire house.
This is why salvaged materials are excellent for project that don’t need many materials—building a tiny house, or finishing a basement. Or, as in this case, landscaping a yard. If you have an eclectic style and like lots of unique textures and colors, mixing and matching with whatever the salvage yard has on hand may appeal to you as well.
More and more salvage materials should be available here in Seattle—the city requires that certain certain construction materials be recycled. The city also requires demolition crews to fill out a salvage assessment.
Not everything that could be salvaged gets salvaged, though. Demo crews are on tight deadlines, and tend to prioritize their timeline over making sure materials are salvaged.
Ballard Reuse gets what they can, accepting donations every day of the week. Any salvage operation could take a cue from their outstanding communication: You can go to their website to see their latest finds and staff favorites. They list items for sale on Craigslist, and feature some of the nicest on Instagram.
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