salvaged wood

Reclaimed is all about reducing our impact on our environment. I hope that by re-using wood that would’ve otherwise been dumped into a landfill, I’m helping to reduce our impacts on Earth. If the wood would have entered the waste stream then who knows how long it would take to degrade, not as long as synthetic materials but it still would have taken up valuable resources and space. When landfills are created, wildlife habitat is destroyed. Less habitat for wildlife = less chance of surviving. I’m passionate about wildlife since I work to protect rare species in New Jersey with Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, like the osprey, northern diamondback terrapin, and the peregrine falcon.

A huge debris pile along Rt. 72 in Stafford Twp.

To me collecting the salvaged wood is the best part. Each piece has it’s own story or wear to indicate its past use. When I travel around I’m always glancing at roadsides, climbing in dumpsters, etc.. to look for wood that could be re-purposed or upcycled. Pretty much all the wood that I use was found or “picked” by me. Other times people reach out when they have wood that they would like to be salvaged. I try to help divert the wood from becoming waste.

Many people have asked what it was like after Superstorm Sandy barreled into Jersey. Well, as you can imagine, wood was everywhere. The boards and beams that created homes were turned into debris. The personal belongings of those affected were strewn about the landscape or placed into curbside piles. Much of the debris collected on high marsh areas, road sides and other places where the 6-10′ storm surge peaked. Immediately after the storm I did not just go out to try and save as much wood as possibly, which is what I wanted to do, but instead I felt that it was better to respect the people who might have just lost everything. Plus is some areas, like LBI, I was told that local law enforcement was ticketing and even arresting people who were “picking…” I did still collect wood debris for re-use after watershed cleanups and from some road side areas, like Route 72 (where I found the remains of The Shack) and the Tuckerton Seaport (where I had permission to come and take as much wood as possible). The wood that I salvaged was a drop in the bucket compared to all the waste that was created; much of it was sent to be burned in Ohio.