After spending 48 years in the auto parts industry and with no experience doing anything like his work at Gympie and District Landcare Group, Terry and his small team of ‘up-cyclers’ are building habitat boxes and planter boxes using recycled and repurposed materials. Terry said he had never had a green bone in his body and laughed as he shared how much he is enjoying learning to be green. Terry has found the volunteer work with Gympie and District Landcare group offers a great team environment full of interesting and passionate people. It’s a place where you can learn new knowledge and skills and contribute as a volunteer to an important organisation that needs good people who want to make a difference.
They find recycled and repurposed materials wherever they can, things like rusty old drums for bird feeder roofs and unwanted/discarded flitches from sawmills. Terry uses hollow logs from firewood suppliers and re-purposes these into the popular planter boxes or small critter homes. Wood for the habitat boxes is high quality ply wood but all other wood is up-cycled or heat treated (HT) and not chemically treated. Terry has found sometimes businesses have good quality HT pallets that are hardwood and these are especially valued for the up-cycling process.
He is passionate about building the habitat boxes with all of the new estates being built and the removal of previous habitats, these boxes create homes to maintain our wildlife in existing trees. There is a focus now on planting trees to provide habitats, and whilst these trees are growing, we need habitat boxes. Terry never expected to do the work he is doing now but along with his team of ‘up-cyclers’, they are making a wonderful contribution as volunteers. Landcare, a not-for-profit community organisation, values their contribution towards saving wildlife and raising much needed funds to continue the work.
