We give things a second life
Thinking about how to limit the production of new items and materials, and how to reduce their waste, plays a key role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by minimizing those resulting from their production. We don’t produce new things—but we want to play our part in reducing emissions in this way. We don’t want to buy new things unless absolutely necessary.
“The Nest renovation isn’t my first involvement in this type of project. Each previous one had a specific budget. They varied—sometimes 40,000, others almost 200,000. Here, we started with a completely empty bank account. The idea that we were renovating the place using only recycled materials was both an adventure and a challenge. Various people informed us that there were building materials, leftover paint, and mortar in some dumpster. Furniture from corporations replacing office equipment, household appliances left over from tenants’ vacant offices, and equipment dismantled from vacant buildings awaiting renovation. We did everything ourselves. We didn’t hire professional contractors for any of the work. When we finished the basic renovation, we calculated the direct costs—it was under 1,000 PLN. It’s hard to believe this when you see our place.”
We dismantled most of the lamps in the premises from the semi-ruined, abandoned building of the closed FSO factory kindergarten in Żerań. Cleaned and converted to energy-efficient ones, they will last for many years to come. One of the lamps is a street lamp, renovated and converted to LED, that hung over neighboring Wilcza Street in the 1960s. It was manufactured in 1957. Working clocks, discarded during railway station renovations, hang on the walls. We pulled some of the carpeting from garbage containers on nearby Skorupki Street – where an office building was undergoing renovations and simply discarded it. Much of the furniture is the result of a large law firm moving, which left some of the equipment in the abandoned office. We received the kitchen furniture from a neighbor who was replacing it with new ones. We collected the plants in the premises, which were more or less in poor condition, and saved them so that they can now be enjoyed by us.
We’ve also introduced a dedicated plant exchange rack. You can bring unwanted plants or those in need of some help and leave them here, giving them a chance at a new life. If you’d like to care for them yourself, you can take them with you and care for them in your own home.
Every item given a second life here tells a story and is part of our mission to minimize waste and give more life to both things and plants.
