Hidden Value of Sawdust

HIDDEN VALUE OF SAWDUST

Irepurposeandrespect.

Igivenewmeaningstodiscardedthings.

Ibringwasteback.

Iletitflourish inthepresent.

Whatiswaste?Wedefinewasteassomethinguseless. Andwegeneratealotofwaste…

*Source:http://www.unece.lsu.edu/biofuels/documents/2007July/SRN_018.pdf

Iownatinywoodworkingshopwithmy husband.Despiteouroptimizeddesignand productionforsustainability,westillthrowout 20%ofthewoodscrapsandsawdustas byproductsofourproduction.

Combined,woodworkersfromTurtleIsland und50milliontonnesofwood awdustperyear,around ⅔ ofit onnes)endsupinlandfills.When ndfill,itcreatesagreenhousegas ane.Eachtonneofwoodinlandfills kilosofemissions*. especiallyhardwoodsuchasoak anexpensiveoverlookedresource.

Imaginethiswoodwasteassomething valuable,evensomethingbeautiful. Wouldn’titbeamazing?

Sawdustshouldn’tbe thrownout.Itshouldbe usedandreuseduntilit can’tbeusedagain.Then, itshouldbecomposted withnoharmtotheplanet.

*Source:http://www.unece.lsu.edu/biofuels/documents/2007July/SRN_018.pdf

Sawdustaccountsforhalfofallwoodwaste.*

Repurposingsawdustischallenging.Only certaintypesofhardwoodsawdustare suitableforuseinfarmsandgardens,which meansthatmostofthesawdustgeneratedby woodworkersendsupbeingburnedorsentto landfills,pollutingtheenvironment. Forsmallbusinessesandindividual woodworkers,sortingandcollectingsawdust isalabor-intensivetask,andmanydonot havetheequipmentorstoragespaceforit, otherscannotafford wastesortingservices. Efficientsawdustmanagementrequirestime andeffort.

So,howcanweencouragethe industrytosolvethisproblem?

I’malreadydoingthat.

Idon’twanttopollutetheenvironment.

Throughmyproject,I’mprovinghoweasyitcanbeto repurposewoodwasteintobeautyandfunction.Anditdoesn't requirebreakthroughtechnologyorexpensiveorcomplex tools.Iwanttoinspiretheindustrytochallengetheconceptof waste.

Thisprojectdemonstratestheresultofayearofmyresearch anddevelopment,asynergyofsustainability,designresearch, strategy,craftsmanship,experimentation,labtesting,and prototyping.

Irepurposewood wastefromour production.

Iwentthroughajourneyofexcitingbreakthroughsandharsh realitiesoffeedbackandtesting,ofalmostgivingupwhenmy labexperimentsweren’tworking,whenmyprototypesended upbreaking,andwhenmyresearchinsightsweren’twhatIwas expecting.

Theverynatureofthisprojectkeptmegoing:thesoftnessofwooddust. Iimaginedaplaydough.

CanImakesomethingversatileandmoldable?Sustainableandfeasible?

Iusedmysawdustmixture

Throughaseriesofexperiments,Iturned ourwasteintoaresource-aversatileand naturalsawdustmixture.Anditcan becomeanything:anobject,aproduct,a planarmaterial,amovement. Thisworkisaconversationaboutthe perceptionofwaste.Itisaboutbreaking stereotypes.Itisaboutprolonging resources.Itisaboutturninganunwanted intodesirable.

Isketchedthecompositionandtheshapesonpaper. Eachshapeisuniqueandhandmade.Aftermixing, stamping,sanding,andcoveringeachshapewithoil, Iassembledthisinstallationpiecebypiece.I’musing invisiblethreadstogivetheseshapesasenseof motioninspace.Withthisartwork,I’mcreatingan emotionalconnectionandchallengingtheperception ofwaste.

Mynextstepistofindabroadaudience.Andhave thisartworkondisplayforthepublictofostera conversationaboutthehiddenpotentialofwaste,to sharethisstory,andtobuildawarenessaboutthis problem.

IfIwasabletodoit,then anyonecan.

Ihopetoinspireotherstoexperiment,evenif theyfeellackofknowledge,expertise,resources, ortools.Then,fromindividualsjustlikeme,to communities,toindustries,tonations,we’ll changethestatusquoandleaveaprospering planettonewgenerations.

Creatinganartworkseems likeasologamebutit’snot. Ittakesateam.

AndIamgratefulformine.

JohannVerheem

Wasteproducer/Photographer

Materialadvisor

Facultyinstructor

NikitaShanin

AndreaRuggiero

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