Reusing one Tree at a Time

Calling themselves “urban forestry pioneers”, Pittstown, NJ-based CitiLog saves trees (from both urban and non-urban sites) that would otherwise be burned as firewood, chipped to make mulch, or sent to a landfill, so they can be put to one of their many potential uses. To lower the footprint of tree removal even more, the company often employs a team of workhorses to move trees from a site! Whether it’s custom door frames as part of the restoration of a historic home, high design furniture and interiors for cafes, hotels, or even the Ivy League (Yale and Columbia), CitiLog has the staff of LEED accredited and FSC-knowledgable green building professionals and skilled craftspeople to work closely with clients to produce a range of products according to spec. As part of its CampusLog program, the company is currently working with RiderUniversity on a LEED certified dormitory to open next year, which will incorporate some of the actual 123 trees felled on the site. All of CitiLog’s wood is certified under Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood program due to its low impact processing.

The nature of CitiLog’s approach injects a high level of environmental consciousness into a project that many potential clients will come to appreciate more and more, especially as current green building guidelines make their future transition from option to requirement for construction projects the world throughout. Maybe the next time you come upon a tree in a city or around a construction site, you might think about where it came from and where it’s going. CitiLog certainly does with its mission to preserve and reuse an often overlooked “commodity”.

A few informative links:

Rainforest Alliance

Forest Stewardship Council

U.S. Green Building Council

Skaters Gone Green

Since co-founding the company in 1998 in Oakland, CA, Jason Salfi and partner Don Shaffer, have run Comet Skateboards with an environmentally prudent approach to doing business. From the beginning, they wanted to offer the skater market a less toxic product, through the use of FSC-certified poplar and maple, and water-based finishes, without compromising the high performance requirements of the product (they are actually in the process of developing a soy based resin with the help of Cornell University, as well as beginning to use sustainably grown bamboo). Many users even testify that the boards have more spring or “pop” to them, allowing for higher overall strength and performance.

Similar to furniture made from the same processes, the very components of most skateboards are highly toxic or unsustainable, like the VOC-producing lacquer-based resins and glues, and woods from unsustainable sources. With the development of a skateboard made with their proprietary soy protein polymer and natural fiber and grass core, Salfi notes that Comet is “effectively, creating a board that could grow from sprout in one season and be skated and then bio-degrade when it breaks and grow again and again”, a notion that could surely spread to different industries, as manufacturers realize the benefits of this sort of approach. To top it off, Comet now boasts “green collar” jobs, local material sourcing, and clean energy use, thanks to the opening of their new manufacturing facility in Ithaca, NY last November.

Sustainable Punk, Campus Progress.org

The Eco Advantage, Inc Magazine (November 2006)

Jason Salfi and Comet Skateboards on YouTube

Pirwi - Sustainable Furniture With Style!

Pirwi is a Mexico City-based furniture company that operates under sustainable practices. Designer Emiliano Godoy, who has been working in sustainable design for several years, is in charge of the creative direction of the company. Pirwi’s catalog showcases stylish and contemporary pieces that are not only green, but that also offer an interesting aesthetic proposal.
Besides the creation of environmentally compatible products, Pirwi utilizes socially fare labor practices setting itself at the forefront of the sustainable furniture industry.

FSC certification program - a quick explanation -

We believe at ecolect that information is the main key to better design. We try to inform the design community about product solutions as well as the certifications behind the products.
FSC logo is probably something you’ve seen often in relation with sustainable wood. What does FSC stand for ? What is the mission ?

(excerpt from FSC official website)
“The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international organization that brings people together to find solutions which promote responsible stewardship of the world’s forests.”

“FSC sets international standards for responsible forest management.”

“FSC accredits independent third party organizations who can certify forest managers and forest product producers to FSC standards.”

The interesting point about the FSC certification, is not only to focus on sustainability but also on the human and economic factors.

Sustainable : maintaining forests biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes.

Human factor : helping local people and society to enjoy long term benefits.

Economic : operations has to be profitable without compromising sustainability.

Learn more on FSC, organization website.

FSC-watch, a group checking and criticizing the quality of FSC certification program

Cork Flooring Solutions, Surprising?

Imagine a natural wood material that is resistant, last more than a lifetime and do not require to cut the trees down… Well this material is Cork.

We are more used to see it used to close wine bottles, but Natural Cork from cork oak tree can be used in construction and has a lot of benefits. Apart from being sustainable, as the ressource keep growing on the trees, the benefit of this material compared to other type of wood subproduct is that the trees are actually not cut down, preserving the landscape around.

Solida is a flooring company, that produce a wide variety of floor solutions based on cork.

Check their website to see their product and learn a bit more about their production process.

SOLIDA CORK flooring begins life as bark on the cork oak tree (Quercus suber) which grows in the Mediterranean, primarily Portugal which is
the world’s largest exporter of cork. The cork oak tree forests are one of the most carefully regulated resources in the world. Managed by
the government, cork tree forests are looked upon as a national treasure.
Cork flooring is one of the most environmentally friendly flooring products available today surpassing even hardwood since the cork oak tree
is never cut down and all of the associated processes are done using systems and chemicals that are free from carcinogens and contain low
or none of the voc’s (volatile organic compounds) associated with conventional flooring products such as carpet and vinyl.