One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

Here is another clip from the documentary Y.E.R.T.(Your Environmental Road Trip)…Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Responsible Materials Made or Grown in the US

We started making our shutters from bamboo because we know that bamboo is, without question, a rapidly renewable material.  It regrows into a completely harvestable form, in much less than the required 10 year time frame.

Bamboo, however, has one big pitfall that is really hard to overcome.   It is not commercially grown and harvested in the US.  That translates to long distance shipping.   Not the best scenario.

We started a quest for materials that were responsible and locally grown.

So far we found a few good US sources for poplar (also rapidly renewable) and some FSC Certified basswoods – both very suitable for making shutters.    In addition, we sourced a variety of recyclable composite materials with verifiable recycled content that might prove to be more weather resistant and will create a more “traditional” looking shutter material.

We will continue to search for those materials that best support both the Earth and the US economy as much as possible.  On our wish list:

• A few consistent sources for reclaimed  materials – ie., barn wood, old flooring – or downcycled materials – ie., pressed pulps or aggregates.
• A material where we can re-use or completely recycle our scrap and waste.

Next up, re-using and re-working existing shutters to make them more “power-full”.