Creative Use of Curtain Rods
Syd Palmer contacted the Waste Exchange to list 95 packets of imperfect curtain rods. Each packet contained 25 rods, and although they were not suitable for their designed purpose, Syd hoped another use could be found for them. A Waste Exchange email with photos of the rods engendered several responses, and resulted in the rods being put to quite different uses in art and forestry.
| Christchurch artist Sally Buck saw a use for the rods in her art work. Sally manipulated the steel rods to form the basic ‘skeleton’ of the models she was making, and she then reinforced these by wrapping other wire around them. |
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| Sally filled out the figures’ bodies by wrapping foil around the limbs and torso, and then wrapped fabric (dipped into paverpol) on to the figures, which were left to dry. |
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| The results are impressive, as these photos show. The figures are approximately one metre high without the stand, and are made to be displayed outside in the garden (they are weather resistant). These art works are for sale, so if you would like to brighten up your garden with some original art (supported by some recycled materials!) then contact Sally on 025 261 9146. |
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The curtain rods found quite a different use in a forestry trial carried out in Carter Holt Harvey forests at Okuku Pass in North Canterbury. Ensis staff (formerly Forest Research) are conducting the trial with input from the New Zealand Douglas Fir Research Cooperative. The trial aims to determine the best method of promoting native vegetation cover around stands of plantation conifers. Differing combinations of fertilisers, herbicides and native tree seed (mainly Manuka) collected from nearby native trees are being compared, and the curtain rods are being used to mark boundaries between the different treatments. |
Around 200 of the rods were used. The rods were perfect for this trial because they are easy to carry, to push into the ground without hammering, and are highly visible. They are also reusable and, of course, free, which makes them an even more desirable resource.
The rods have also been used by Ensis Forests in other capacities. In a recent experimental burn in North Canterbury the rods were used as markers to locate buried heat indicators and other equipment. The wire rods were also used during soil excavation experiments on the Canterbury Plains. An intensive forestry trial currently being planned will use hundreds of these rods as markers during the early set-up phases, because they are so easy to insert into the soil.
Ensis has made use of the Waste Exchange database many times in recent years and finds the access to free, reusable material not only invaluable to the work they do, but in keeping with their need as a Crown Research Institute to be sustainable.
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