Most current home and garden television shows feature new items or simply the buying and selling of decorative and antique items, but a few have led the way by featuring the deconstruction and reuse of salvage and reclaimed building materials.
 
One such past television show, The Reclaimers Salvage, aired for twelve episodes in 2005 with SalvoNEWS reporting at the time:
'It is the first TV programme to feature stories of people and objects going from dismantling, through restoration and sale, to placement in a new location by the customer.' Salvo founder, Thornton Kay was asked to advise, and many Salvo Code dealers featured in the programmes, such as John Rawlinson from Original Architectural Antiques, Anthony Reeve of LASSCO Three Pigeons, Sam Coster from Mongers Architectural Salvage, Nadine and Jason Davies of Architectural Forum. The Reclaimers aired on the mainstream television channel BBC Two and reached viewing figures of 2.2m.
 
Prior to this salvage series there had been a pilot filmed, featuring reclamation dealer, Damian Cronin, for Sky TV focusing more on demolition. SalvoNEWS reported in November 1999, Damian was already used to celebrity,  'he frequently came under the spotlight as a rugby playing No.8 of Scotland, Bath and British Lions.' The production company, Illumina, led by John Denton filmed 'live demolitions in the London area' but unfortunatley it did not proceed. There was also a short TV series with the strange idea of asking the public to vote on which buildings should be demolished and then replaced. It's presenter was Kevin McCloud, who went onto present the successful 'Grand Designs' Channel 4 television series, with a focus on on modern new builds rather than the reuse of reclaimed building materials.

However, the successful TV format of 'The Reclaimers' went on to be repeated in several other popular television shows about salvage and reclaimed building materials.
 
In 2011 Seeking Salvage, an eight-part RDF documentary series, featured Trevor and Lee Jones of Beeston Reclamation in Cheshire and Dale Sumner and Paul Johnson of Ribble Reclamation in Lancashire on the History Channel. It became the Channel's most popular television programme of the year, with 100,000 viewers. The show followed their deals with some salvaging stories. Trevor was filmed at the fire-damaged Peckforton Castle hotel, where 400 sqm of 140 year old oak flooring was reclaimed. Architectural Salvage Source, based in Hertfordshire, was also filmed at the demolition of a silk mill in Congleton, where a major client wanted to buy 100,000 reclaimed bricks, although only 28,000 were subsequently saved. In 2012 the show transferred to mainstream television on the ITV channel and was renamed Trash to Treasure. Barry Hecker, the series producer, tweeted: 'Excellent figures for Trash to Treasure @ITV last night, averaging 12.4% and 2.8 million viewers'.
 
In 2012 the US television series Salvage Dawgs premiered on the HGTV, DIY, Discovery and the Great American Country Network. Gradually growing in popularity, it ran for eight years and eleven seasons with over one hundred and forty episodes. Salvage Dawgs reached around 400,000 viewers per episode, outperforming average viewing figures of 275,000 on the DIY channel. Mike Whiteside and Robert Kulp, the owners of Black Dog Architectural Salvage based in Roanoke, Virginia, could be seen with their team salvaging period homes, churches, commercial and industrial buildings 'with a mission to reclaim, reuse, and repurpose architectural salvage for a sustainable future.' Audiences loved the camaraderie between Mike and Robert combined with the images of deconstructing and saving old buildings for reuse. However, it was paused in 2020 due to problems relating to the pandemic and then finally dropped with the takeover and rebranding of DIY to the Magnolia Network.

The Australian reality series, 'Demolition Man', was also a popular salvage show for a while. It premiered on A&E, an Australian 'pay to view' channel in 2017 and featured, 'salvage king' Lawrie Voutier, 'who just loved junk.'

However, one of the most popular reality salvage television series encouraging reuse, is in America, airing on the History Channel, fifteen years after it started, in 2010. Aptly named, 'American Pickers' or 'The Pickers', produced by A&E Networks in collaboration with Cineflix Media, it follows antique and salvage picker, Mike Wolfe. He always travels with a 'picking' buddy, originally Frank Fritz, around the USA visiting collectors willing to sell their treasures. The items are usually stored in barns, garages and warehouses packed full of stuff where they hunt out hidden gems to restore and sell in their yard, Antique Archaeology, based in Iowa. What I personally love about this show is their knowledge and genuine passion for the found items. Also they do not mind exploring and 'picking' their way through old dusty barns. Their favourite finds are often items that bring back memories of the past along with a vintage bike, car, van or truck.

And conncidentally the most long running UK reality salvage TV series, 'Bangers and Cash' also helps to save vintage vehicles and bygones. It began eight years ago and is based in Thornton Le Dale, North Yorkshire, England. Mathewsons is a family auction business selling classic cars, collectibles and bygones such as vintage advertising signs.  Since 2018, the show's production company, Air TV have made eight series for U&Yesterday, a British free to view channel, and more have been confirmed. It's popularity is mainly based on nostalgia. However, another reason maybe the renewed interest in buying classic cars and vans from younger people, to avoid the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emmission Zone) charges in London and other UK cities. All vehicles built before Janaury 1973 are exempt regardless of commercial use. 
 

These salvage shows have proven to be not just interesting and fun - they have also had the all important function of encouraging reuse. 
 
Sam Coster from Mongers Architectural Salvage based in Norfolk, featured in The Reclaimers show, said at the time, "It is really exciting to be involved in a project like the Reclaimers, especially as it gives us the opportunity to promote reuse and reducing waste." His approach to restoring pieces of salvage gives many local engineers, blacksmiths and other craftspeople a steady flow of work. He stated, "Faithfully restoring pieces, and keeping the dying arts and crafts our heritage is built on is crucial, especially when they face competition from lesser quality reproduction copies made at the expense of exploited and poorly paid workers. Our customers would much rather pay a few pounds more for the real thing, hundreds of years old and restored by bona fide craftsmen."
 
Finally, to quote a previous SalvoNEWS story by Becky Moles, 'Reuse the pressing issue' she states: 'As we witness the devastating effects of climate change with every news cycle, coverage is now focusing in on all aspects of human activity and what impact that is having on the planet. It makes for some uncomfortable reading, the built environment is responsible for 45% of the UK's total carbon emissions and accounts for 60% of all materials used'. The piece highlights the environmental benefits the salvage sector offers in reducing our impact. Despite this, almost all reuse in construction depends on the client's lead. Salvo's CEO, Sara Morel, declared in the article: 'The salvage sector has been an under-utilised resource for decades, supplying less than one per cent of the construction materials market since Salvo started in 1990'.
 
Now seems the perfect time for a new television series featuring the dismantling and reuse of buildings, appealing to a younger generation of home and commercial renovators and designers.
 
In the meantime, check out our YouTube channel @ReclamationTV in the links below to find inspiring videos of reclamation rescues and projects that promote reuse. And if you have a reclamation story or you would like the Salvo Team to video your yard then get in touch.