Reuse, Renew, Recycle

A handy woodworker combined dozens of throwaway wood scraps, recycled glass and new hardware to fashion this graceful, earth friendly china cabinet.

Because you do things yourself, you can take recycling to a whole new earth-friendly level. Many practical (some would say cheap) DIYers routinely visit their town dump or recycling center. It's a great place to meet friends in the community and to find old chairs, tables, dressers and other wood items that can be refinished or restored easily, inexpensively and with great results. You can also find antique doors, crown moulding, and other valuable items.

Take this Wood Shop Challenge

When one DIYer's wife asked for a new china cabinet, he took on the challenge with a unique environmental twist: except for the hardware and the pine top, the entire cabinet was constructed from wood scraps.

"The stile and rails for the doors came from small scraps of pine I kept moving from one end of the shop to the other," he said, "and I made the drawers from leftover 'Akume' plywood I had from an old boat project." The project also included a wainscoted back made from short pieces of wood left over from a kitchen project and glass cut from old single-pane windows.