Two years ago, four strangers – Sara Buchner, Elizabeth Duck-Chong, Luke Mitchell (who was also Gardening Australia’s “Mr Fix It”) and Peter Jorgensen – met working in a timber shop. They realised they were all frustrated with the timber industry’s unsustainable practice of relying on newly produced timber from large-scale logging. The group – who share backgrounds in architecture, design, carpentry, repair and restoration – decided to do something about it. They co-founded Among the Trees, a reclaimed-timber shop and woodworking school in Marrickville that aims to divert as much timber as possible from landfill.

Inside their warehouse, the team has created a store where anyone – from DIYers to hobbyists and professionals – can come and shop for timber. You’ll find a mix of neatly categorised hardwood and softwood, common and exotic timbers, slabs, plywood and even off-cuts. Each piece was once part of an old fence, house or piece of furniture that was on its way to the tip.

Buchner explains that when timber is donated or collected from the local area, the team removes any old nails, screws or bolts, and trims any broken bits before putting it through a machine that shaves the old surface and squares it off to reveal a new piece of timber underneath.

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“We try and get as much as we can that’s reusable and sell it for, like, $1; it’s really cheap,” says Buchner, who’s the managing director of Among the Trees.

Timber that cannot be reused – including newly milled timber, wood that has too many nails or screws in it, or has been painted (especially with what’s suspected to be lead-based paint) – is made available as free firewood or sawdust. “We try and get as close to zero-waste as we can,” Buchner says.

Even the nails, screws and bolts that are collected during the resurfacing process don’t go to waste. Any that are still in good nick are resold at the store, alongside restored hand tools and environmentally friendly oils and waxes that people can use to keep their timber protected.

There’s also a woodworking school on-site for those curious about woodworking but who don’t have much experience beyond high school D&T classes. Currently on offer are one-day beginner courses on spoon carving, picture-frame making, upholstery and step-stool building. All the classes are taught using restored hand tools instead of heavy machinery.

“The idea is that all you need are some simple tools and you can actually create anything. At a personal level, there’s a real kind of nourishment that comes from hand-making things,” says Mitchell.

The plan is to eventually expand these classes to include intermediate courses, and to hire out the workshop to people who may want to work on their own projects at their own pace. Buchner adds the team also wants to build a separate off-site warehouse to cater for the building industry.

“It’ll be a place [where] we can collect larger loads, because that’s where you save big amounts of timber.”

Among the Trees
27 Sydney Street, Marrickville

0481 358 733

Hours:
Wed to Sat 10am–4pm (classes often run outside these hours)

amongthetrees.com.au
@amongthetrees.sydney