After reading this post, don't forget to enter our contest – you could win a new dishwasher. Plus, do you have your own story to tell? Send it to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com (no more than 300 words, please), and you could win one of 30 daily prizes. Today's winner is Michelle D'Ercole.

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I wanted to share a green challenge that my husband and I faced when we purchased our home. The home has a walk-out basement but the builder only included a tiny deck that was 10 feet above the ground plus a set of stairs down. Needless to say it was much too cramped for our family of four to enjoy and we needed to build something that would be safer and would accommodate our family. The big dilemma was that we didn't want to have our old deck end up at a landfill site. My parents had just purchased a cottage that needed a back porch and a waterfront deck. We took our builder's deck apart board by board and transported it to my parents' new cottage. The floor decking wasn't big enough for a proper deck but it was perfect for a back porch entry into the cottage and so that is what we did. Then when my parents built a waterfront deck we used the railing spindles from our builder's deck for the new railing. The finished projects look amazing. I think that it looks much better than if we had only used brand-new lumber because at the cottage the slightly worn and weathered look fits in perfectly. We also saved all of the nails that we pulled out of the deck and use them whenever the need arises. I can't tell you how happy I am when I am up there enjoying the porch and the deck when I think about how we were able to re-use the builder's deck, and to top it all off it saved money too!

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Thanks to Michelle for sending in her story – and don't forget, if you still haven't entered, there's still time to send your own story to greenchallenge@canadianliving.com. Michelle wins a gift basket of delicious organic chocolate goodies from Green & Black's. Today's code word: deck Read more: • How to reupholster a chair • 10 ways to pest-proof your garden organically • Make your reno eco-friendly