July 28, 2008 "Waste-Not Woodshop" on a mission to save the environment Play video

(Anya Huneke, NECN: Burlington, VT) - Class is underway at the 'Waste-Not Products Woodshop' in Burlington, Vermont.

Anna Urban and her apprentice, Patrick Pahnke, are assembling birdhouses they'll eventually sell.

Using materials that didn't cost a penny. The wood shop is part of 'Recycle North'-- a non-profit organization with a three-part mission: to promote reuse, offer job-skills training, and provide poverty relief.

Tom Longstreth\Exec Dir, Recycle North "we take waste - that people would otherwise throw in a landfill… and give it new life."

Recycle north salvages and/or restores everything from cabinets to instruments to appliances.

In this new woodshop, though, urban and others are creating new products out of old materials.

Anna Urban "I think it's more inspiring." you're looking at wood that might have nail holes or something like this... It just has a previous life, you can tell... It kind of brings the pieces alive."

"These are examples of some of the materials used to make some of the products. Here are a couple of scraps from a furniture maker... And with a little artistic genius, they'll be turned into a cutting board."

In this wood shop You'll also find, among other things, picture frames made out of barn board... And hot plates made from recycled slate and floor board scraps. According to recycle north.. 20-percent of the materials in Vermont's landfills come from new construction, renovation,

Tom Grocki\dir, bldg materials Ctr: "we do our best to keep as much as we can out of the landfill.">

Patrick Pahnke\apprentice "it's saving the environment, which is something I liked because I value the environment very much."

Patrick Pahnke is also developing a real passion for woodworking. The woodshop aims to help disadvantaged young people learn new skills.

Patrick: "I probably wouldn't have learned how to use this stuff if I hadn't come here."

As he's found .. It's a good way to avoid wasting time... Or, for that matter, wasting much of anything else.