MINNEAPOLIS — "Some of the things I make are with old junk bike parts," Jeremy Marshik said from his garage.
His garage is often his space for creating recycled items out of materials that would otherwise be thrown away.
And his south Minneapolis neighborhood is taking notice.
"At Patrick's house, he got a desk for his birthday," said Marshik. "Royal Grounds has a bike rack I made out of three old bikes and some chain link fence I found in a dumpster."
After 26 years in her house, Katherine Harter finally has a flower bed, thanks to Jeremy.
"The wood was just going to be thrown away so we're giving it new life," Harter said.
It all started when Marshik was riding around his Kingfield neighborhood. He noticed a bunch of lumber headed to landfills and started to inquire.
"For the last five years, I've been introducing myself to local contractors. They're busy and have tons of lumber and don't have time or space to deal with it. I've found that, from talking with them, they're more than happy to let you take what is about to be sent to the landfill in the dumpster," said Marshik. "Sometimes there's nails to pull, not always, but it's great wood."
He has expanded to selling the wood now, as well, in an effort called Lumber Stash.
"It seems like lots of people are excited to buy used lumber for half price," Marshik said.
His neighbor, Danny Gregory, is selling recycled lumber now, too, after they met at a neighborhood event.
The Reincarnation Corporation is bringing this south Minneapolis neighborhood together and keeping lumber out of landfills.
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