If you’ve thought of purchasing furniture or other things made of a tropical hardwood, you know how very expensive they are. That’s fair enough, since they take so very long to grow and then shipped a great distance which is costly. You may not be surprised to learn that it is quite common for goods to arrive in crates and on pallets made from these very same expensive woods.

And since they arrive like that, for this wood to be thrown away, put into a landfill or burned. Some furniture makers have noticed this and have begun recycling these crates and pallets into good quality furniture. This is an excellent example of up-cycling, a way where a low value item is turned into something of much greater value by a little bit of creativity.