why Local
The harm done: Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warms the planet, causing climate change. Human activities have raised the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide content by 50% in less than 200 years.
All things being unequal: In theory there should be a balance between carbon emitted, through human and natural processes, and carbon captured. Currently we are emitting more than we are capturing. This happens when forests are being destroyed and when fossil fuels are being extracted and used irresponsibly.
Wood for building is better (especially locally sourced wood): In addition to being carbon-neutral, studies have shown that wood takes less energy to manufacture products from than other materials. Manufacturing wood products, such as cypress siding and paneling, is mostly limited to kiln drying and running a saw blade. Alternative building materials such as aluminum, plastic, cement and brick can require up to 126 times more energy to process into finished goods.
Embodied carbon refers to the greenhouse gas emissions arising from the manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials. Embodied carbon is a significant percentage of global emissions and requires urgent action to address it.
Just three materials – concrete, steel, and aluminum – are responsible for 23% of total global emissions (most from the built environment). There is incredible opportunity for embodied carbon reduction in these high-impact materials through policy, design, material selection, and specification.
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is one method of reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the goal of reducing global climate change. urgent action to address it.
Storing carbon: As a building material, wood typically has a long, useful life as it stores carbon that would otherwise be released into the air as CO2 – in some cases, as long as 100 years or more. And when a building reaches the end of its usefulness, it can be deconstructed and the wood products reused rather than being landfilled.
Reducing the number of stops along the chain and shortening the physical distances decreases emissions associated with transportation.
Transparency in the workplace leads to better working conditions, increased wages and improved quality of life.
Ensuring that profits go directly to community oriented operations and not shareholders allows funds to be better directed to workers, Towns and small independent workers and businesses.
Labelling. Allow the consumer to understand where their product originated along with the environmental and ideally social and economical impact of their purchase.
Transparency in the workplace leads to better working conditions, increased wages and improved quality of life.
Ensuring that profits go directly to community oriented operations and not shareholders allows funds to be better directed to workers, Towns and small independent workers and businesses.
Labelling. Allow the consumer to understand where their product originated along with the environmental and ideally social and economical impact of their purchase.
Mass distribution networks with centralized hubs have not matched locations of products and producers with sites of origin. Example: Wood from Europe is imported to Maine although Maine is the 2nd most forested State in the United States.
After 2 years in operation the Lumbery, by buying local wood and supporting small, family owned mills, has contributed over $1,000,000 to local economies in Maine and, due to reduced transportation, has kept 24,300 kgs of carbon out of the atmosphere.
“What about quality and pricing? I can’t present my client with an environmentally and socially responsible product if it is too pricey and doesn’t hold up.”
A Farmer’s Market for Locally Sourced Wood
“Buy Local Wood” is our unofficial tagline. Most people would think that buying local wood (and plants) in Maine, the most forested state in the lower 48, would be easy, but it’s not…especially for cedar wood products.
In fact, most cedar sold in Maine is red cedar which arrives from the west coast. The reason for this blatant incongruity is that white cedar is inconvenient. The white cedar tree is not nearly as girthy as its western cousin, it is predominantly milled in relatively little quantities, by small, family owned mills in small towns scattered throughout Maine and it is not heavily traded on the commodities market.
This is where the Lumbery comes in. We, essentially, have created a farmer’s market for local wood. We have opened a retail store that allows for out-of-the-way mills to expose their products to the larger market in southern Maine and beyond.
The benefits of this relationship include reduced emissions due to a compact chain of custody, hyper-local business growth which includes, foresters, loggers, truckers and mills who in turn have a greater tendency to ensure that the forests are well maintained and sustainable plus it creates a genuine sense of regionality and pride…like a homegrown athlete or celebrity.
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