Greener Wood For Home Improvement

Many home improvement projects involve using wood, which admittedly is a very green resource to begin with, but choosing the right type of wood can make this even greener. This article explores different types of wood and which of their qualities make them so suitable for eco-friendly home improvement tasks. First off, when buying wood of any type, always be sure to look out for the FSC symbol (Forest Stewardship Council). This ensures that the tress were ethically harvested, meaning that as little damage as possible was made to the forestation during the harvest, the harvested trees were replaced by new trees of the same type, and everyone involved in the process got their fair share of the profit.

Bamboo

Bamboo is one of the best known green tree types, and growing immensely in popularity for home improvement projects, as creating a greener home is becoming ever more important. The reason why Bamboo is such a good resource is that it has a very high growth rate. It can grow up to 100cm (39in) within one day alone. This great growth rate means that it doesn’t require pesticides to be used on it, thus doing the eco-system around the bamboo plantation a big favour. Bamboo can be used to create screens, blinds, furniture, or even houses themselves.

Seagrass

The popularity of seagrass within home improvement projects is increasing due to its versatility. Wicker made out of seagrass can be used for indoor and outdoor furniture, rugs, storage boxes, chairs, tables, dining furniture, even beds. It’s naturally stain resistant which is a plus, and referred to by experts as the ‘eco-system’ engineer since it creates an eco-system around itself thereby stabilizing the seabed and protecting the area from coastal erosion.

Phoenix Wood

Phoenix has a similar coloring to pine making it a very light wood, which can be matched to several color and room designs. It is mainly used to create wooden shutters and furniture such as wardrobes or cupboards, but it can also be used for parquet flooring. Phoenix wood is officially known as Paulownia and like bamboo it has a very high growth rate. It gets the nickname ‘Phoenix’ as once harvested, the new plants grow from the roots of the old plants. It has similar eco-system engineer qualities to seagrass, as it can quickly spread amongst and improve an ecologically stressed or deforested area.

There are many more wood types available for home improvement projects than the average enthusiast is not aware of, so be sure to do a bit of green research before undertaking your next home improvement project.

This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of Shutters Direct, providers of quality wooden shutters. Sarah is a home improvement enthusiast, who wishes to create a greener atmosphere in her home and for it to become more energy efficient.

Resources:
FSC- http://www.fsc.org/
Bamboo- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo
Seagrass- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagrass
Paulownia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia