Do you ever stop to think what happens to the old furniture lining the streets on council collection days? Unfortunately, unless it is made from 100% metal or wood without any paint or other treatments, most of these items cannot be recycled and are likely to end up taking up space in landfill. 

One estimate derived from a survey of 2,500 metropolitan Australian households found on average each household disposes of around 24kg of wooden furniture per year. Approximately a third of this are soft furnishings like sofas and armchairs, and two-thirds other wooden furniture.

It doesn’t have to be that way. With a bit of time, a creative idea, some hard yakka and a splash of paint or varnish, second-hand furniture can be transformed into new unique pieces that you can keep at home or sell for a nifty profit, saving the environment and your wallet. That’s why as part of National Recycling Week this year, Planet Ark has launched the Save Our Furniture competition in collaboration with Major Sponsor Gumtree Australia.

Planet Ark will be running the Save our Furniture competition from the 25th of October to the 21st of November. To enter, simply post before and after photos of a piece of furniture that you have refinished and given a new life on Facebook or Instagram, making sure to tag @Planetark and @Gumtreeau and use the hashtags #saveourfurniture and #NationalRecyclingWeek.

Following the conclusion of the competition on November 21st, our amazing judges James Treble (@designerjamestreble) and Ashley Krug (@bluewreninteriors) will be assessing all entries and choosing five lucky winners who will receive a prize pack worth over $400 to help them keep upcycling. We would like to acknowledge the support of The Painted Brush, Bunnings and our partner Gumtree for contributing to the goodies in these prize packs.

To access tutorials on upcycling furniture, find out more about the competition and read the terms and conditions, visit nationalrecyclingweek.com.au/upcyclingtutorials.