Re-use is sustainable, energy efficient and conserves the environment. It also preserves Australia’s irreplaceable, heritage bricks, often over 100 years old, like these beauties.
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- Initials etched into an irreplaceable handmade heritage brick immortalise the worker.
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- A circa 1890 Cobb & Co brick and a 1956 Melbourne Olympics brick. Voices from our heritage past.
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- A ghostly hand from a bygone era sending a message into the future. Who was this person?
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- Scratching names and initials into bricks was commonplace in the days when Sydney was first built.
Sadly today in Australia, when brick buildings are demolished, the bricks are very often taken away and crushed as demolition waste. What a waste! Hundreds of thousands of perfectly good bricks are destroyed this way every day. Instead these bricks should have been recycled and re-used.
Reuse is upcycling. Crushing is downcycling.
Re-use and crushing are both recycling options. Re-use is a better option because it preserves the product and recycles it without destroying it. Re-use also conserves energy and so is the superior environmental choice. Re-use is also known as upcycling. Upcycling means the original product is not destroyed during the recycling process. The end result of upcycling is re-use of the same product. The end result of downcycling is that the original product (ie brick) is destroyed and a new product (ie road base) is created.
Ask yourself these questions….
- Which is better for the environment…..saving and reusing bricks from demolition sites or crushing them for roadbase?
- Which uses less energy…..saving and reusing bricks from demolition sites or crushing them for roadbase? Crushing brick means we also have to make new bricks to meet consumer requirements which uses more energy.
- Which preserves Australia’s heritage…..rescuing and reusing irreplaceable convict bricks and sandstocks from demolition sites or crushing and destroying them?
How you can help save heritage brick
- Send a demo alert to Brick Rescue when you see a demolition site in your neighbourhood.
- Lobby your local council to change the DA requirements. Lobby them to specify that bricks must be recycled for re-use and not crushed.
