Wood is an amazing thing, a construction material that if used properly, is net-positive to the environment. Add to that, it’s aesthetically beautiful, strong, long lasting, and easy to use. There is not a lot to not like and its an absolute key component of our sustainable future.
What makes wood so good? Well it’s essentially a carbon battery. Trees absorb CO2 and convert it to carbon that is locked inside the tree whilst releasing oxygen back into the environment. A living tree is composed of around 50% carbon and 50% water with a mature tree absorbing around 10kg of CO2 per year
When a tree is cut down, this carbon remains locked into the resulting timber, only released if the timber is burnt or left to decompose. This means the real value of timber comes from making it last a long time and keeping all of that carbon locked away.
Another great propery of wood is that, if ethically managed, you have an everlasting supply with trees that are felled being replaced with new trees which in time absorb their own chunk of CO2. They key here though is the ‘ethically managed’ bit, the practices of many logging companies who fell wild forests either leaving the previously diverse environment barren or returning it to use as a monoculture causes significant harm to our environments. Responsible well managed timber production though is net positive which is why at Colart we strive to only use timber from properly managed sources.
As I’ve probably said before I’m one of lifes hoarders and wood is no exception. Only as a last resort will I ever burn it and I squirrel away as much unloved, unwanted timber that I can find. Last year I went as far as building a wood shed for my fiberous treasure which itself was built from recycling timber I had aquired along the way:
My woodworking skills are best described as rustic (ie I chop it to the right length and then screw it all together), but here are some of my creations:
On the left we have my smoking oven which was knocked together with an old oil drum, the remains of a BBQ, some scaffolding board offcuts and the remains of a garden shed. It makes the most amazing smoked meat.
In the middle is a salad table I made from rotted out joists that were removed from our house. Whilst somewhat decayed they still have plenty of life in them.
On the right is a herb table made from pieces of old pallets.
Finally in the background is a outdoor kitchen I built from the 100 year old sash windows from the house. Much of the timber for it came from the skip when walls were removed at Elephant Space.
Another useful use for smaller offcuts is to make planters. These were made from a decking boards.
The rest of the sash windows from the house got reused to make coldframes that I use to overwinter my cacti.
After discovering we had a family of hedgehogs nesting in our garden, I built this hedgehog house to keep them warm over the winter.
…and even random small offcuts can be made into something. Here are some creatures I made with odd pieces that were lying around, some nails, bottle tops, nail varnish and Reeves paint.
So as you can see there are lots of useful things you do with all those unwanted bits of mother natures wonder material whilst helping the environment by keeping that carbon safely locked away.
really like your creative endeavours Toby. Keep sharing them, it’s quite inspirational