Why Do I Work With Wood?

I have been asked why I would choose to work with wood when logging is so environmentally destructive. I will admit that there are those who act like those alien invaders you see in the movies who are bent on sucking the earth dry of all its resources and then throwing away the empty husk. And I agree, to act in this manner is incredibly short sighted. It also shows not only a contempt for the needs of others, but it also reveals a fundamental lack of self respect. To participate in the “rape” of the environment is to say, “I not only don’t care what happens a hundred years from now, I really don’t even care what happens tomorrow. I don’t care if I starve tomorrow as long as I can stuff myself today.”

However, to think that the perfect solution to all environmental issues is to keep humans as far away from “nature” as possible is just as short sighted. This implies that humans are interlopers on earth, a species foreign, and therefore hostile to all things terrestrial. Those who believe the only way to “save the earth” is to remove people from it, reveal, not only a contempt for the needs of others, but actual contempt for all things human. What is funny is that they want to keep all us “interlopers” away from nature so they can commune with nature undisturbed while totally missing the point that they are also human and, therefore, must be removed with all the rest of us. Like it or not, we humans really are an integral part of our environment. We share a common origin with all other life on this planet and we share a common destiny. The solution must include us and our needs.

What many seem to forget is that all life forms change their environment in ways that not only makes its own existence easier, but can also be detrimental to the needs of other life forms. For example, a beaver family moves into an area that has all the right kind of timber on it but it only has a small creek to provide water. So what do they do? They dam the creek. This causes water to back up forming a pond behind the dam. For the beavers, this is a vast improvement over the way things were before. Now they can build their den in the middle of the pond, making it much harder for predators to catch them or their young. They have places to store food for winter and it is much easier to move pieces of wood around when you can float them than it is to drag them around on the forest floor. This new pond also gives fish a bigger place to live so there will be more fish. More frogs will move in as well. The forest animals will have a more reliable source of water. Much better for everyone, right?

Maybe, maybe not. In the process of flooding the forest to make its pond, the beavers also flooded the burrows of many other animals who either drowned or were forced to find a new home. All of the trees, bushes, and other plants that are now standing in water will eventually die. What is an improvement for some is a catastrophe for others.

But let’s set that aside and just consider us humans. Is the proper solution to all our environmental woes the eradication of humanity? No! Like it or not, we humans are an integral part of our environment but we are definitely different than other life on earth. Like all other life forms, we change our environment to better suit us but we go beyond that. When we change things, we bring something new to the table. Our changes are planned, systematic, and, therefore, much further reaching. As a result, some changes we make are good, some not so good, and others – downright horrible.

So, what is the solution? We are not “gods” who, like the Greek and Roman gods of mythology, can act with impunity. We are not aliens who must remove all traces of our existence from the earth nor are we slaves of the earth who must deny our needs “for the greater good” of our masters. We are actually stewards of the earth. I don’t mean to use the word as it is used today, in reference to a male flight attendant, but in the more formal use of the word. Dictionary.com gives this definition: “A person who manages another’s property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.” We must be stewards of the earth. As a steward, we do not own the earth, nor does it own us. We hold it in trust for future generations and must manage the resources available to us to meet our needs and those of our children and grandchildren for generations to come. We must think through our actions and balance the needs of not only ourselves and the generations to come, but the needs of those around us, including the natural environment. Any time we ignore OR favor one part of the equation to the exclusion of the others, we endanger all of it.

So what does all of that have to do with furniture building? It requires me to be aware of not only where the lumber I use comes from, but also how it is handled along the way. Is it grown using good forest management practices? Is it harvested in a way that does not destroy the forest around it? Are the logs transported in the most environmentally friendly way available? Is the mill energy efficient? When the logs are milled, what happens to the waste? Is it just sent to a dump? Is it burned? Is it composted? If it is burned, what happens to all that energy that is produced? Does it just go up in smoke or is it put to good use? Is the burning process clean or another source of pollution? How is the lumber transported? All these things must be taken into account when selecting a source for the wood I use.

Harvesting trees doesn’t have to be damaging to the environment. It really is possible to manage our forest land to meet the needs for lumber and still maintain the environment in a way that is healthy and supportive of all the creatures that live there. With fuel efficient mills, the proper disposal of waste materials, and more environmentally friendly transportation, wood can be an infinitely renewable resource. And with the movement toward plantation grown timber, even the exotic woods are now becoming an environmentally sound renewable resource.

Why do I use wood? Why not? Wood is the perfect material to work with. It has a sensual quality to it – there is just something special about the way it feels when you run your hand over a piece of wood. It is warm and inviting, a quality that few other building materials can even come close to matching. And it is also pleasing to look at. The way light interacts with the grain creates an endlessly changing kaleidoscope of beauty.

And besides all that, wood is fun to work with. There is just something special about working with wood. The wood really is involved in the process unlike any other material. You cannot force wood, you have to work with it, work within its boundaries. When using materials like metal or plastic, you can make it into just about any shape you want and it will stay there. However, wood is more alive. You have to study it, learn its unique characteristics, what you can or cannot do with a particular piece of wood to create something of lasting beauty. Wood is not static, it moves – all the time. It bends, bows, cups, and twists with changes in the environment, and you ignore this characteristic of wood at your own risk – unless you like making pretty fire wood! Different species of wood move different amounts, some move a lot, some don’t move much at all. Even within the same species, there are differences from tree to tree. And to make it even more interesting, even within the same tree, different pieces of wood will react to their environment differently. You have to keep all this in mind as you work through the design process, because all of these things will affect what you are able to build.

And then, once you start the building process, you must continue to keep in mind the active nature of the wood you are working with. Will it remain stable or will it move after you start shaping it? If you need to let it set for a few days or weeks, will it still be just the way you left it or will it have cupped, bowed, twisted, or bent? If it does move during the building process, then what? What do you have to do to deal with it? And even more important, how do you plan for the movement that will happen after you finish building whatever it is you are making? It is this constant interaction with the wood I work with that I find so fascinating.

To learn more about having a custom designed table, desk, chair, or bench made just for you and your unique needs; or if you would like me to create a piece of artwork for you – a drawing, some pyrography, a carving, or a turning of some kind; feel free to contact me. You can give me a call at: (207) 975-9704, or email me at: ric@crwashburn.com. I am looking forward to hearing from you!