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Creative Reuse—Winter 2002 Reuse is for the Birds! |
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| by Sarah Weimer, Reuse Assistance Grants Coordinator
Accessorizing your home or garden can be an expensive endeavor. The next time you decide to add some accessory elements to your living space, consider this: decorative birdhouses and feeders are now popular to display in the home and garden. Making decorative birdhouses and feeders out of materials that would otherwise be discarded is not only cost effective, but it reduces your amount of disposal as well. According to the WorldWise, Inc. Web site, reclaimed products in today's marketplace include birdhouses made from wood reclaimed from old barns. The National Recycling Coalition, Ventura County's Solid Waste Management Department, and the Intelliwaste Web site also suggest that birdhouses can be constructed from used wood. An article in the Saratoga News suggests building birdhouses out of old signs, wooden crates, or barn wood. The nonprofit California Bluebird Recovery Program in Somerset, California, employs used redwood and cedar scraps to construct birdhouses. Old fence boards, painted or unpainted, are particularly useful for the program. An article in Young People's Press describes an Earth Day 1999 celebration at Buchanan Public School in Toronto: more than 350 students participated in 12 workshops that continued throughout the day. Some of the workshops, led by Scarborough-area teachers, focused on sustainable practices such as building birdhouses out of reused wood. The Salem OnLine Community Guide includes reuse suggestions such as creating birdhouses from tree prunings. In addition, the guide suggested building a natural looking birdhouse for decorative purposes from a half-gallon milk carton, spaghnum moss or lichen, waterproof glue, an artificial bird, a six-inch square wood base, and nails or staples. Or wash a plastic milk jug and transform into a bird feeder (Consumer's Handbook for Reducing Solid Waste). Information created for National Science and Technology Week on April 22-28, 1990, provides suggestions on how to create bird feeders from used items in a classroom setting. To begin, use plastic bottles, milk cartons, aluminum pie plates, margarine containers, or other reusable containers. A simple bird feeder can be made by cutting large holes into the sides of a plastic milk jug, two inches up from the bottom. To add weight to the feeder, glue a rock or similar object onto the bottom of the jug, and tie a wire or string around the neck. In order to be effective, the bird feeder should be placed on a tree branch, have a hole that is large enough to accommodate a bird, and contain a perch. As the Web site emphasizes, this activity teaches children two important lessons: by reusing materials to create a functional item, the children have positively impacted the environment as well as assisted their feathered friends. Through such activities, children recognize that a better alternative to disposing of their trash is to reuse it creatively. Home and Garden Television frequently invites guest Robb Whittlef on the "Trash to Treasure" series to display how normally discarded materials can be recycled into charming useable items such as birdhouses. The "Trash to Treasure" segment is filmed at Art & Architecture, a salvage and antique store in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Whittlef shares creative ideas for constructing birdhouses by reusing found objects. Designer styles can be made from scrap wood pieces, old shingles, antique tin pieces, banister molding, and clock parts. Place a rod in a doorknob and glue onto the birdhouse for a clever perch. Whittlef also suggests using old bed pieces to beautifully embellish birdhouses. He explains that "the rungs of the head or foot board can be cut down to size and glued to the outside of the house, or cut down even smaller to be used as peg-legs." Place an antique piece of tin on the top of the birdhouse for the roof and paint the house a bright color. Whittlef demonstrates an innovative way to reuse old bridge lamps that were popular in the 1930s and 1940s and used to provide extra lighting for card games. While the lamps are still occasionally available in antique stores, their wiring is often non-functioning and can be difficult to repair. But even if not in in working condition, the lamps can still be reused as hangers for decorative accessories such as birdhouses. The unique beauty of the lamps is displayed as well. To individualize an old birdhouse, Whittlef recommends using an old license plate to cover it. Another option is to use the panels from old hardback books or cigar boxes to replace a generic birdhouse roof. Whittlef demonstrates how to use the foot of a bed and an old porch post to construct small birdhouses. The result: quaint accessories for the home or garden. He emphasizes that the key to a successful and attractive final product is to choose a base post that is attractively shaped. In his display, Whittlef uses the foot of a bed for one base and a porch post for another. He suggests simply drilling a hole in the bottom and gluing in a dowel at the appropriate height. Next, in the front of the post, he drills a small hole for the bird and adds a perch, using either a small dowel or a nail. Whittlef then uses an old piece of shingle for the roof or overlaps small pieces of wood to create a shake effect.
To construct the birdhouse, first use sandpaper to remove any splinters or uneven spots from the column. Paint the column as desired and allow it to dry completely. Using a drill, make a bird hole in the post and attach a hook underneath for a perch. To construct a base, cut two pieces of salvaged wood and place glue on the bottom of the post. Use nails to secure the smaller base piece on top of the post; repeat the steps for the larger bottom base piece. Screw the funnel onto the top, and then screw an old doorknob to the funnel for a finished product. A used birdhouse can be creatively turned into another item, such as a handy outdoor shelf. Whittlef recommends painting the shelf in a favorite color and attaching a picket fence. Attach four boards to old crates to create legs, and secure the birdhouse on top. Finally, paint the bottom to match the color of the birdhouse. Kathy Burrows of Ray's Trading Company in Sebastopol reports that numerous artisans frequent their business to purchase inexpensive odds and ends, which they use to create "new" pieces. Burrows states that parts for birdhouses are highly sought after: "We've probably flooded the birdhouse market." Matthew Levesque, manager of San Francisco's nonprofit BuildingREsources, explains: "Basically, if it's still in working order, someone will find a use for it. Solid wood stocks, old redwood fencing-even if rotten-we have people waiting in line for it. Picture frame makers and birdhouse builders use it. The more moss-grown, the more lichen-covered, the more weathered-the better. That's what they're looking for-the weathered look." Burrows agrees. "We get a lot of funky stuff because people like funky things. They don't want things perfect-we don't even strip our goods anymore." The McCloud River Birdhouse Company in McCloud, California, a family-owned and operated businesses, employs salvaged wood to construct birdhouses and several other products that sustain wildlife. MRBC originated from a collaboration between Jimmy Chamberlain and his sister, Jo Chamberlain. Both avid wildlife enthusiasts, they realized that because of continued habitat destruction, birds and bats need extra help from people. Jo, a biologist, assisted with the designs of the houses and feeders. With Jimmy's skills as a wood craftsman, they created MRBC. Currently, Jimmy and his wife, Majorie, operate the business from their property in McCloud. Since 1998, MRBC has collected used materials for its business. The company receives about 1,000 square feet of salvaged wood each year from contacts listed in CalMAX. Recycled Lumberworks in Ukiah and Caldwell Building Supply in San Francisco are regular sources that provide MRBC with approximately 300 square feet of used wood each year to construct the birdhouses and feeders. Occasionally, a local construction project will have excess wood at the end of a project, which MRBC gladly accepts. MRBC has observed that birds and bats prefer used wood to new. The company reports that their birdhouses have tremendous success with attracting and successfully fledging birds. In honor of a prior Second Chance Week, members of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Yuba City, California, rescued rustic wood from a home that had to be demolished due to flood damage. Several adults and children used the salvaged wood to build and decorate 80 birdhouses, which were sold at a "Birdhouse Boutique" during Second Chance Week. The proceeds from the birdhouses benefited the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity by providing funds necessary for constructing a home made of rice straw. As the above examples indicate, reusing materials to construct birdhouses not only benefits the birds, but people, too! Information for this article came from the sources below:
Last updated: February 27, 2008 |
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California Materials Exchange (CalMAX) http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/CalMAX/ CalMAX@ciwmb.ca.gov (877) 520-9703 |
Whittlef shows how to construct "unusual and homey birdhouse" just by using a little imagination and several unrelated salvaged items, including: a 16-inch hollow wood column, drill/paddle bit, hammer, metal oil funnel, nails, old doorknob, old hook, paint, paintbrushes, sandpaper, scrap wood, screws, screwdriver, and wood glue.