Recycling Wood Pallets
How To Recycle Wood Pallets
I love to do wood projects that are fun and recycling wood pallets is one of my favorite ways to find wood for my projects.
It wasn't always that way though. There were times when I went to the big box home improvement store and purchased new lumber for my projects. If you've bought any new wood lately, you'll know that it isn't cheap! I knew that if I could find a source for used wood I could cut the cost down considerably. Photo: © ronnieb | morgueFile
I was lucky to find a new source and it was free! You can't beat free! I had noticed that there were a lot of stores and shops in my area that had wood skids laying around outside their property. I asked around and found out that most of these old wood pallets were just disposed of in the garbage. What a terrible waste. Here's some ideas on how to recycle wood pallets and ideas for projects for old pallets.
I approached a few of the businesses and asked them if I could take their discarded pallets for them. It was a win win situation for both of us. I got an endless source of wood and the stores saved money because they didn't have to pay to remove the garbage. Of course, the environment also won as the pallets didn't have to go to the landfill site and there were trees being saved because I didn't have to buy new lumber.
Another advantage of reclaimed pallet wood is that you also are getting some wood that has been weathered and aged, and some that is still new and yellow. If the pallets have been outside in the weather for a long period of time, they will look like old barn wood. Some of the wood is very rough looking and might be perfect for the design of your project.
It's actually not hard to find old pallets. Most businesses have their products shipped and delivered on pallets. What are they doing with the pallets after the product has been delivered to the store? Nothing. They are going to the landfill.
All you need to do is visit a few stores and look around the property to see if they have any used pallets. Most likely you will find some right away. Then you just need to ask them what they do with the pallets. Many business will say they just dispose of the pallets. If that's the answer then you can offer to take the pallets for them. Many business owners will jump at the chance to get rid of them free of charge because they are an eyesore and costly for them to dispose of.
You may run across a few stores that say they re-use the old pallets, but don't be discouraged. There will be other businesses around that will want to get rid of their pallets and will be happy to offer them to you.
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Once you've found a supply of wood pallets that you can recycle, the next steps are simple. You'll need to break the wood skids apart into pieces that you can use for your wood projects.
You'll have to take care not to splinter the pieces of wood as you disassemble the pallets. There are many staples and nails so exercise care while doing this. The nails and staples are very sharp and can cut or poke you. Please be careful.
( Back to the top )
Want to make some extra cash Recycling Wood Pallets? It's possible!
If you make some of these projects out of recycled wood pallets you can sell them. Since the wood is free, and you'll have an minimal investment in materials (hardware, nails, screws, stain, paint, etc.) the projects are almost all profit. Turn an enjoyable hobby into a business and make some extra money.
It's also possible to make some money by repairing the pallets and then selling them back to the companies that use them. You can charge a flat fee, You'll just need to have the contacts and a supply of older broken pallets that you can use to repair the newer ones. All you need to do is take apart the older pallets so you'll have the replacement pieces to repair the pallets. Then you can return them for a profit!
The possibilities are endless and with a little imagination you'll come up with many different ways for repurposing wood pallets and maybe bring in some extra income for you and your family!
( Back to the top )
I love to do wood projects that are fun and recycling wood pallets is one of my favorite ways to find wood for my projects.
It wasn't always that way though. There were times when I went to the big box home improvement store and purchased new lumber for my projects. If you've bought any new wood lately, you'll know that it isn't cheap! I knew that if I could find a source for used wood I could cut the cost down considerably. Photo: © ronnieb | morgueFile
I was lucky to find a new source and it was free! You can't beat free! I had noticed that there were a lot of stores and shops in my area that had wood skids laying around outside their property. I asked around and found out that most of these old wood pallets were just disposed of in the garbage. What a terrible waste. Here's some ideas on how to recycle wood pallets and ideas for projects for old pallets.
I approached a few of the businesses and asked them if I could take their discarded pallets for them. It was a win win situation for both of us. I got an endless source of wood and the stores saved money because they didn't have to pay to remove the garbage. Of course, the environment also won as the pallets didn't have to go to the landfill site and there were trees being saved because I didn't have to buy new lumber.
Another advantage of reclaimed pallet wood is that you also are getting some wood that has been weathered and aged, and some that is still new and yellow. If the pallets have been outside in the weather for a long period of time, they will look like old barn wood. Some of the wood is very rough looking and might be perfect for the design of your project.
It's actually not hard to find old pallets. Most businesses have their products shipped and delivered on pallets. What are they doing with the pallets after the product has been delivered to the store? Nothing. They are going to the landfill.
All you need to do is visit a few stores and look around the property to see if they have any used pallets. Most likely you will find some right away. Then you just need to ask them what they do with the pallets. Many business will say they just dispose of the pallets. If that's the answer then you can offer to take the pallets for them. Many business owners will jump at the chance to get rid of them free of charge because they are an eyesore and costly for them to dispose of.
You may run across a few stores that say they re-use the old pallets, but don't be discouraged. There will be other businesses around that will want to get rid of their pallets and will be happy to offer them to you.
( Back to the top )
Once you've found a supply of wood pallets that you can recycle, the next steps are simple. You'll need to break the wood skids apart into pieces that you can use for your wood projects.
You'll have to take care not to splinter the pieces of wood as you disassemble the pallets. There are many staples and nails so exercise care while doing this. The nails and staples are very sharp and can cut or poke you. Please be careful.
( Back to the top )
Want to make some extra cash Recycling Wood Pallets? It's possible!
If you make some of these projects out of recycled wood pallets you can sell them. Since the wood is free, and you'll have an minimal investment in materials (hardware, nails, screws, stain, paint, etc.) the projects are almost all profit. Turn an enjoyable hobby into a business and make some extra money.
It's also possible to make some money by repairing the pallets and then selling them back to the companies that use them. You can charge a flat fee, You'll just need to have the contacts and a supply of older broken pallets that you can use to repair the newer ones. All you need to do is take apart the older pallets so you'll have the replacement pieces to repair the pallets. Then you can return them for a profit!
The possibilities are endless and with a little imagination you'll come up with many different ways for repurposing wood pallets and maybe bring in some extra income for you and your family!
( Back to the top )
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