Backyard DIY Projects : Reclaimed Lumber

Trees are a vital ingredient for supporting life on our planet. They are crucial to our environment as humans, producing oxygen and absorbing climate change-causing carbon dioxide. People cut down 15 billion trees each year, excluding the undocumented millions illegally logged, and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization.

Logging is the greatest determinant of whether trees will survive in a given area. The most dramatic losses to forests are in tropical regions where land is being cleared for agriculture and other commercial purposes. Logging involves the cutting and processing of trees to produce timber and pulp to supply the world’s markets for furniture, construction, paper, and other products. If not managed properly, logging greatly contributes to deforestation and forest degradation. Habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity, especially in tropical rainforests where over half of all of the planet’s documented flora and fauna are found. Logging also directly impacts soil and hydrological cycles, as reducing in tree coverage leads to the increase in water runoff and soil erosion.

It is imperative to our survival as a species to preserve our planet’s forests. A way to immensely impact the conservation of trees is to utilize reclaimed timber for the construction of your home, and your home improvement projects. The vast majority of repurposed wood comes from timbers and decking rescued from old barns, factories and warehouses, though some use wood from structures such as pallets, boxcars, coal mines, and wine barrels.

Here are some amazing projects using pallets that we hope inspire you to utilize reclaimed wood for your future home projects!