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Why Cut Down a Tree
to Raise a Plant? In 1999 the Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium (NEC) launched an innovative new business venture called WoodWins. WoodWins uses wood from pallets, crates, manufacturer’s scraps and deconstructed homes to manufacture high quality, value-added garden products including planters, window boxes, garden benches, bird feeders and bird houses. Each WoodWins product tells a story about the past life of the wood used to manufacture the item. If not reclaimed by WoodWins, these scrap pallets, crates and lumber would have ended up in a landfill or an incinerator. Discarded wood in the waste stream is a local and national resource conservation problem. Every year over 2.7 million acres of U.S. forests, equal to a forest the size of the state of Connecticut, is harvested to manufacture wooden pallets in the U.S. Half of all hardwood (oak, cherry and maple) lumber milled in the United States each year is made into pallets (over 70% of pallets are made from hardwood lumber). At any one moment, there are over two billion pallets in circulation in the United States. Half of all pallets are used only once. Others are reused over longer periods of time, but eventually all pallets are burned or sent to landfills to decay. Each year 300 million pallets are disposed of in the United States with over three million landfilled or incinerated in Minnesota alone. This waste of our natural resources is what inspired the NEC’s WoodWins program. WoodWins is now entering its second year of manufacturing and sales of garden products made from 100% recycled materials, and has grown its product line to over 18 different recycled garden items for sale. Everything from planter benches to window boxes to herb garden kits for the windowsill. With their furniture quality construction and stunning designs, it’s hard to believe these products are made from reclaimed wood. What has WoodWins done for Saint Paul’s Environment? When wood rots in a landfill or is burned in an incinerator, it emits green house gasses, which contribute to global warming. This year WoodWins diverted 18,482 pounds of wood from the waste stream. This equals 4.71 tons of green house gas emissions. Next year WoodWins projects diversion of 228,740 pounds of wood, which equals 58.28 tons of green house gas emissions. So when you are getting ready to plan your outdoor spaces and plant this spring, remember to let the trees stand and buy recycled! You can view the WoodWins complete line on the web at www.woodwins.org and purchase WoodWins products through Mississippi Market, or call 651-293-3921 for more information. The Saint Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium is a grassroots, locally-based and focused nonprofit coalition of community organizations serving Saint Paul area residents and businesses. Their purpose is to provide information, services and programs that contribute to an environmentally responsible community. Programs and services are offered in the areas of recycling and waste reduction, energy conservation, greening, water quality protection, toxins reduction and alternative transportation.
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