Buying wood for a DIY project isn't cheap, so when this Reddit user came across some about to be thrown away, they gave it a second life.
Redditors were excited for the user and shocked at how much they were able to take home.
A gardener posted an image of more than a dozen wood planks in the bed of their truck on the r/gardening subreddit.
They were planning to create a raised bed for their garden, and their workplace was throwing away all this wood, so they took it.
The original poster said, "I think I can work with this."
While wood can be recycled, much of it ends up in landfills. According to Community Wood Recycling, when wood rots, it releases a polluting gas called methane, contributing to the planet's warming.
Landfills also negatively impact communities' health. The University of Colorado cited a study that found a "12% increased risk of congenital malformations in children born to families that lived within a mile of a hazardous waste landfill site."
If you live near a landfill, you'll also deal with smoke, odor, bugs, and water contamination. Large landfills can decrease the value of adjacent land by 12.9%, per the University of Colorado.
While this Redditor is using the wood for a garden bed, you could use it in many ways. One Redditor found scraps of wood on Craigslist that they used to create a corner bench that looks just as good as, if not better than, anything you could buy in the store.
🗣️ Which of these benefits is your biggest motivation in gardening?
🔘 Getting outside more 🌱
🔘 Growing healthy food 🥕
🔘 Making my yard beautiful 🏡
🔘 I don't garden 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
You never know what you'll find when you go thrifting. These two projects show that you don't have to shop at thrift stores to find great deals. If you're crafty, you can recycle other things, including wood.
Redditors in the comments had much to say about the great find.
One user said, "Wow lucky!!!"
"Free and repurposed! Great job!" another commented.
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