WOODEN you like some FURNITURE?

WOODEN you like some FURNITURE?

Furniture is what takes up most of our living space within our home and also a part of our yards, patio or balcony.

Furniture can be made of many things but I’m going to be writing today about wooden furniture and how as the tree is growing it can help store carbon which has been removed from the atmosphere. Most timbers are about 45% Carbon which means forever 100kgs of timber that’s 45kg of carbon stored. 

 

Firstly I will discuss the way in which plants grow to help you (if needed) get a better understanding of how it all works. Plants need three things to grow, air, nutrients and water (soils is not needed, it just holds nutrients and water).

Plants take in carbon dioxide CO² through their leaves and absorb water H²O via their roots. The plant then uses the Sun’s light to break down these two elements to make Glucose C₆H₁₂O₆ and Oxygen O₂, this is called photosynthesis. The “waste” O₂ is expelled into the air along with some escaping H₂O while the C₆H₁₂O₆ is used for growth and energy storage.

Formula for photosynthesis: 6 X CO₂ + 6 x H₂O (+ Sunlight) = C₆H₁₂O₆ + O₂

So as you can see from the formula no carbon (C) leaves the plant by this method. The main ways in which the C would be released would be burning wood (fast) or fungus breaking down the timber and expelling CO₂ (slow) .

Wood sourced from local supplies is a whole lot better as the carbon stored in the timber doesn’t out weight the carbon used in transport, and if you’re buying it to be Eco-friendly what would be the point? For us in Adelaide > ForestrySA < is the local manager for the states timber plantations click on their link and give them a call or email and they might be able to tell you who they supply to. What is better then local timber is reclaimed timber, at South Henley Hardware (from where we sell) they sell wooden things such like toys, stools and chopping boards made by a local and he uses scrap timber.

Wood is very versatile, it can be stained or painted to a huge variety of colours and can be cut, carved and sanded into lots of shapes so in reality anything thing made from wood is good, cooking utensils, housing frames, floor boards, toys, I could be here all night.

So next time you buy something try to think if you can get it in wood and do your part, no matter how little to store some carbon. Leave a comment and let me know what wooden furniture you have that your especially proud of and don’t forget to go to our Facebook page.

NATURAL HARVEST
Garden tools, Organic Seeds, Fruit Trees & Seedlings

Address: (Inside) 49 Henley Beach Road,

   Henley Beach South, 5022, SA

Phone/Fax: 08 8356 2316
Email: naturalharvest@live.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Natural.Harvest.Seeds