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Woodworkers of all scales are constantly creating a stream of waste products in the form of wood offcuts. Often these offcuts are of a considerable size and quality, but the process of creating new uses for them is not an economical process.
At Among The Trees, in addition to our reclaimed timber store and manufacturing services, we want to not only draw attention to this stream of waste products, but also their many uses and possibilities. In 2022, Among The Trees launched the first Offcut Challenge, to huge success and local involvement. A year later, and submissions are about to close for the 3rd edition of this competition.
To enter, community members of all ages and skill levels from around NSW are able to visit the store and collect a free crate of timber offcuts for their project, and then have several months to work on a project before submitting it for display in a month long exhibition and the potential to take home first prize in one of several judging categories: Creativity, Function, and a Junior Woodworker prize for entrants under-18s. There is also a People’s Choice category for which the public can vote on their favourite work.
In 2022 the competition saw over 40 submissions, including a range of entries from local high school woodworking classes as well as local beginner and experienced woodworkers. Among The Trees Manager and co-founder Sara Buchner said “it’s amazing to see what people come up with when given the limitation of working with timber offcuts, you wouldn’t believe that some of the finished projects started with things that would have gone in the bin. It goes to show that what is considered waste has so many more uses and potential”.
The exhibition for the 2023 Offcut Challenge is open to the public all through Sydney Craft Week, October 6th-15th.
This Offcut Challenge is the latest in a large program of events, markets, and community building programs hosted by Among The Trees
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