Where Wood Really Comes From

Wood is one of the most ubiquitous building materials in the world. We all know that wood comes from trees, but aside from that bit of obvious knowledge, do you actually know where the wood that makes up your home comes from?

Recent years have seen a flurry of attention and outrage around the damage that is being wrought upon the delicate ecosystems of the world’s forests by the practice of commercial logging. More and more, consumers are looking for reassurances that they companies they choose to do business with are using sustainable practices and materials to create their products.

In Bridgewater, David Salisbury is doing just that…

The company is an example of increasing trend for companies to addresses environmental and social concerns by providing innovative and economically promising options for growers, buyers and labourers of earth-made materials. From procuring and treating the wood, to the design, delivery and service of it, the team at David Salisbury preserves the wood before use to help sustain our forests and increase the product life of the wood.

THE PROCESS – From wood to development…

– The factory engineers collect some of the finest trees from some of the strongest seedlings.

– The plantation begins (The David Salisbury company owns 28,000 acres of forested land in North Uruguay).

– The trees take a course of intensive pruning for twelve years to avoid knots in branches and ensuring that the trees grow with a large diameter (The pruning of the trees can often be conflicted by the presence of fire or ants – jeopardising the entire process!)

– After ten years, the trees are thinned to allow further growth.

– Twenty years later, a forest is deemed mature and ready for harvest (average at a diameter of 50-55cm and height of 60m tall).

– The trees are taken down and gathered.

– The branches and bark are removed by the harvester.

– The logs are soaked to reduce splitting and kiln dried to stabilise the movement and use of the material.

– Following a visual grading process that accords to international standards, the world’s largest production of wood begins!

Through the lengthy process, the re-growth and treatment of wood promotes the renewability of a natural material that offers structural security of constructive developments. It is an extremely eco-friendly system where the material is sized and optimised to guarantee its use and limit waste. Any waste such as cut-offs or shavings are used for joineries, board, palettes and paper or re-used in biomass boilers during the production of the wood to generate heat for the factory.

Even the delivery of the wood to the client is planned to minimise CO2 emissions through scheduled deliveries to maximise utilisation of the product.

These sort of wood treatment procedures are one of the most common forms of sustainable farming; to find out more about this economic, environmental and social benefit visit the David Salisbury site and begin to utilise the earth-made materials that can source the future of our productivity.

Understanding where the materials that we use on a day to day basis to build our homes, encase our products and store our possessions in is a fundamentally important step when it comes to trying to reduce the ecological impact that our societies are having on the planet that we call home. Wood that is produced through sustainable means is one of the solutions that is important for making sure that we do not continue to abuse the earth’s natural resources.

Do you know where the materials that went into making your wooden furniture came from? Do you think this kind of information should be made readily available to consumers?