Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Getting back to the positive side of things minus the window setback I started this project with a big promise to myself to actually practice what I preach.  There is so much waste / damage that occurs when building a house that I have attempted to cut down some of that waste on a small / medium scale.  Of course, I would love to build a completely "green" house, but when you start running the numbers it's SO expensive (corporate corruption at its best) so I attempt at most things like buying local products to save fuel consumption and using products with low V.O.C.   Throughout the project I will re-post some Reduce, Reuse, Recycle items, below are the beginning steps.

This is my trash trailer from now until start of project.  Not even half full!! I know this is not a glamorous picture, but only plastic and treated lumber will need to be thrown away.  All scrapes from framing have been used in my wood burning fireplace or burn pile and all extra lumber has been returned to lumber yard. 

Most all my lumber for fascia boards and siding will be milled from lumber yards locally.  These wood boards above are my fascia boards that once upon a time grew miles from my project,  Uncle Bill is the mill owner who runs a small operation in town.  He owns a portable saw mill that can go out to locations where people would like trees cleared from there properties.  Instead of just cutting down and turning into fire wood,  he cuts down the logs, splits them down to planks, dries them, then plains them down in his shop to whatever size you need.  It is quite a process to see in person and to know the actual person who "made" your tongue and groove cedar siding.  A plus factor in reusing someones trees is that he mills only top grade lumber and he is local so my carbon footprint for lumber transportation is decreased.

I have used alot of recycled elements already, remember these great stairs.  We have also begun modifying our recycled garage entry door and front entry door.  Both were bought for $75 bucks total at Second Use, a salvage yard  in Seattle, and will look good as new after installation.