Student turns rubbish into brand new stool

It may just be a stool but its upholstery hides an intriguing concept - it is made out of recycled material, but not any old recycled material.

The material was waste from Dunedin business Step Up Joinery, which offered the material through a Christchurch waste exchange website.

The stool is an example of what happens when waste is considered a resource, a topic that will be discussed at a workshop in Dunedin next month.

Otago Polytechnic product design student Simon Higgs made the stool using salvaged MDF board as a frame and discarded skin foam to cushion the seat.

The materials worked well and helped him expand his portfolio, he said.

Step Up Joinery managing director Neil Rutherford said the company had discovered much of its waste was useful to other organisations, such as schools and the polytechnic.

The waste exchange made it easier to donate materials.

It also gave away its wood offcuts as firewood and provided wood shavings for chicken coops.

As a result, the company's waste bill of about $600 a month was down to $25.

New Zealand International Science Festival director Sue Clarke said the collaboration between Otago Polytechnic and Step Up Joinery was a "fantastic example" of how waste could be utilised as a resource.

It was hoped the workshop on September 19 would help find more solutions employing waste, she said.

She was looking for up to 30 members of the community who had ideas about how to do this, but were not part of interest groups or organisations.

A range of presenters would attend, including global and economic commentator Rob Oram, Steve Henry from Otago Polytechnic's centre for sustainable practice, University of Otago senior lecturer Dr Mick Abbott and sustainable living and behaviour change facilitator Maureen Howard.

The day would include interactive workshops, panel discussions and a bus tour to the Green Island landfill.

rebecca.fox@odt.co.nz