Environmental Sustainability
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Sustainable Wood:
Wood is a main component of our windchimes. We source premium quality wood locally that has been "FSC" certified. The sawmills where the logs are processed are "SFI" certified. Please click here to view a video of how the logs are processed in a state of the art sawmill.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit organization
devoted to encouraging the responsible management of the world’s
forests. FSC sets high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in
an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically
viable way.
Landowners and companies that sell timber or forest products seek
certification as a way to verify to consumers that they have practiced
forestry consistent with FSC standards. Consumers wishing to support
healthy forests and communities should look and ask for the FSC label
when purchasing wood or paper products. Please click here to learn more about The Forest Stewardship Council.
The American Forest & Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry
Initiative® (SFI) is a comprehensive system of principles, objectives
and performance measures developed by professional foresters,
conservationists and scientists that combines the perpetual growing and
harvesting of trees with the long-term protection of wildlife, plants,
soil, air, and water quality. Click here for more information on The Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
Sustainable Aluminum:
Aluminum does not exist in nature purely but combined with other elements. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to extract aluminum from its ore's around the world. Our heavy gauge aluminum rods & tubing contain between 70%-100% recycled aluminum. Recycled aluminum uses roughly 93% less energy than extraction from aluminum ores. Also our rods & tubes can be recycled at the end of the chimes lifespan decreasing waste. It is important to know that when aluminum is recycled it does not lose any of its important properties. To view some basic numbers on recycling please click here.
Water Based Stains (Low VOC):
Our wooden pieces get premium protection from the elements. Two coats of ultra premium water-based stain is used to ensure that the wood will be preserved with no further maintenance such as water seals etc... needed. Traditional petroleum and acrylic-based coatings protect wood by forming a surface film which repels water and UV radiation. Unfortunately, this tends to prevent evaporation, trapping moisture in the wood and making it prone to decay. Our stains allow the wood to "breath" naturally allowing the wood to expand/contract as well as adjust to moisture levels in the environment. Low quantities of VOC's or Volatile Organic Compounds minimize environmental toxins.
Sustainable Packaging:
We use primarily cardboard boxes that contain on average 70% post consumer materials. Re-used newspaper is used to wrap the windchimes and both newspaper & boxes can in turn be recycled where facilities exist. It takes quite a lot less energy to recycle paper than it does to produce it from virgin pulp. For additional information on energy use and recycling please click here.
Zero Waste Facility:
Our Factory strives to maintain a zero waste environment. Scrap wood is re-used as kindling. Aluminum scraps are collected over time and then brought to recycling facilities. All paper, cardboard, glass, metals and plastics are recycled. We also have a green bin for compost material. This leaves us with virtually zero waste leaving our facilities for landfills. Our energy requirements to run the factory are very modest with roughly 12% coming from renewable resources. We are currently looking at upgrading our lighting as well as exploring options such as green roofs & renewable electricity/ space heating for the future.
