But that is the beauty of the exchanges, theyare a forum for people to trade materials which have traditionally been considered to low in value to be worth the effort of reusing. Take one example in Southern California. Once they become, obsolete, the sets are constructed and sorted according to material type, including reusable lumber, scrap wood, dry wall, metals plastics and even polystyrene. The lumber is sold to a pallet manufacture as well as construction projects in Mexico. The scrap wood is used by a local nursery to build planter boxes.
Old drywall is used as a soil amendment in citrus or chards.
The US Forest Service took the rice straw and used it as mulch for reseeding and erosion control after a major fire in the Mendicino National Forest. Materials exchange guides now number in the hundreds in this country, and our starting to pop up around, the world. Locally, Humboldt County sponsors an exchange through the Tri-City Weekly Advertiser.