Western Red Cedar Furniture is Good For the Environment

Cedar is known for many things: it's beautiful, smellsrenewable building material, compared to brick, stone,
amazing, appeals to handmade quality craftsmanship,cement, etc. That's why it's so popular, affordable
and has many long-lasting characteristics. Aside fromand prolific as western red cedar furniture. Wood
these qualities, we can now add eco-friendly to theproducts can not only be recycled after use into
list. You may not think that buying a new set ofsomething else, wood (aka trees) can be easily and
western red cedar furniture is going green, but adjustrelatively quickly regenerated. Many lumber and paper
your thinking. In a time when we have becomecompanies make efforts to replant trees in
conscious of our impact on the planet, we as adeforested areas, so ideally in the future the number
people have come to value environmentally friendlyof trees cut down and replanted will even out. To
initiatives aimed at preserving and renewing thoseensure that companies and states are doing their
precious parts of the earth that have been criticallypart, the responsibility falls on local and national
damaged by man's industry. While there have beengovernment to oversee and pass legislation, along
efforts made to engage in recycling and usingwith forestry boards. There is also a good deal of
alternate energy sources, including wind andprofessional accountability in play on the part of
hydroelectric, using renewable resources is justcompanies.
another step in the right direction toward securingBiodegradable Building Material
the future of our children and theirs alike. UsingIn addition to being renewable and regenerative,
renewable resources, like wood, is not just a goodwood is also biodegradable. Think about it: wood
idea; it may be our only choice if nonrenewablebreaks down in the span of one's lifetime and so
energy sources finally get depleted.takes up less room in already overcrowded landfills.
The Cedar TreeOther materials can take much longer. Landfills are
Let's first break down western red cedar furniture byone of the worst sources of standing land pollution,
looking at where the wood comes from. Thenot to mention a growing problem. When you have
western red cedar tree, Thuja plicata comes fromthings like disposable diapers, plastic bottles and
the species Thuja. Western red cedar is consideredbatteries seeping into the soil and taking millennia to
an evergreen coniferous tree that's actually a part ofdecompose, wood is a welcome change.
the cypress family. Cypress, however, grows inCost-effective Building Material
native soils across parts of the globe, while westernSurprisingly, using wood is not only profitable for
red cedar is indigenous to the northern United States,companies, it also greens their practices, two
down through northwest California and Montana, andseemingly incongruous occurrences. It is the
up through parts of southern Canada. That alsoassumption that companies give off huge amounts of
makes it cheaper to transport and buy, withoutwaste product because they are cutting corners,
having to pay any tariffs or import costs. Ironically,while more sustainable, eco-friendly practices cost
western red cedar is not what is called a "true cedar."more money. While this often happens, especially in
Along with other false species, like white cedar,the form of illegal dumping, sometimes a company
western red cedar is still mostly considered a cedarcan do good and make good. For instance, wood
and exhibits many of the same admirable qualities.makes up 47% of the raw materials manufactured
The tree of this particular species can grow upwardsyearly in the United States, but it only uses a mere
of 55-75 meters tall and from 3-7 feet wide in4% of energy to do so. Compare that to steel, for
diameter.one, which requires 21 times the amount of energy
Renewable Building Materialused, but also 15 times more sulfur dioxide is emitted
Wood in general is said to be the world's' singularas a result.