Reface your kitchen and save money, time and the
environment
Refacing (recycling your old cabinets) is a sensible option. Unless major
layout changes are going to be made with your kitchen cabinets, refacing
makes both ecological and economic sense. New cabinet boxes can be installed
where needed, using the same custom made doors being put on the refaced
cabinets. How much waste is involved with tearing out your old cabinets, and
throwing them away? On a weight basis, about 1/3 of the cabinet is in the
doors. Which means refacing cuts environmental waste by 2/3. But that's not
all. Since new cabinet boxes don't have the be manufactured when you reface
your kitchen, you are saving the trees and pollution that go into making up
the replacement cabinet boxes. Consider that:
1. Most new cabinets are made of a heavy
compressed mixture of chipped wood and chemicals.
2. The manufacturer of each new cabinet contributes to environmental
pollution. And the waste has to be hauled to the landfill (using fuel for
hauling) and put in the dump.
3. New cabinets, and the raw materials of which they are made, involve
transporting the new cabinets several times, typically over long distances,
utilizing Diesel fuel.
By recycling the major components of your existing kitchen, through
cabinet refacing, you will contribute to the growing movement towards
environmentally responsible building and remodeling practices.