Re-Cyling - An Opportunity To Save Resources & Preserve The Planet!

When the Council truck takes your household rubbish away, you're probably glad to see it go and not think about it again until the next time. But the story doesn't end there because your rubbish has to go somewhere and this could be to a landfill site or an incinerator.

Unfortunately, landfill sites are open eyesores. They also stink to high heaven, attract vermin such as rats and pollute the land.

Landfill Site

Among the worst features of landfill is that the energy and resources used to create the materials we discard are wasted. At least incinerators reduce the amount of waste that has to be buried and generate useful heat energy. The downside is that incinerators pollute the atmosphere which can affect climate change.

The problem is we live in a disposable society, so we have a tendency to buy new things rather than repair and re-use the old. This is partly due to the development of cheap materials like plastic.

For example, a lot of men nowadays buy disposable razors rather than the old style, re-usable wet razors and women buy disposable nylon stockings.

A few years ago I was involved in the refurbishment of an old Victorian building in London and was amazed to discover that the external wall cavities were full of site waste - broken bricks, pieces of wood and old newspapers etc. Nothing it seems went to waste in Victorian times.

We're all in the habit of throwing things away. But the disposable society we're living in can't last for ever because of the environmental problems we're storing up for the future.

For example, there's so much plastic waste in the oceans, it's now becoming part of the food chain with the potential for serious and long-term health problems.

Wood is a traditional material that can and has been re-used for centuries and we can learn from it's use. Waste wood can be converted to new wood products like wood flooring and garden decking. Old wood, railway sleepers can be used as building timbers.

Waste wood, with the addition of adhesive, can be shredded to make composite panel materials like chipboard, blockboard and mdf. It can also be made into garden compost or used as a fuel. Slivers of wood can be used as a cheap packing material (wood wool)

A recent study concluded that over half the rubbish we discard can and should be recycled. This means that we could be making a tremendous reduction in the amount of raw materials and energy we use and helping to preserve the planet at the same time.

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Sustainable Forest Management - A Vital Function Of Life On Earth!

Many people take forests for granted but have you ever asked yourself what life would be like without them? The fact is that life as we know it today, whether we live in a metropolis like London, or in the Amazon rainforest, would be impossible without forests.

So, why is that? Well, forests absorb and store carbon dioxide and so help to keep it out of the atmosphere. It is thought that, carbon dioxide and other 'Greenhouse Gases' in the upper atmosphere, trap heat from the sun, causing excessive warming of the earth's surface and destructive climate change.

 A Healthy Forest Provides A Diverse Habitat For Plants & Animals

Forests also play a vital part in the transfer of water from the Earth to the atmosphere, which is known as the 'water cycle'. Trees suck up water from the ground and release it into the atmosphere as water vapour, which then falls as rain.

The trees in forests has many uses including fuel and lumber and can be turned into wood products such as wooden boxes. They also provide shelter and protection against harsh weather, prevent soil erosion and provide diverse habitats for many plants and animals. 

Sustainable forest management preserves forest resources to meet the needs of future generations. Therefore, in sustainable forest management there is always a balance between the demands of the forest's natural resources and the vitality of the forest.

Planting a new sapling for every tree that is felled is the simplest way a forest can be sustained. Proper forest management however, takes into account a variety of diverse factors.

Selective logging, where only certain trees are felled, thus preserving the balance of the forest, is another sustainable forest management method. However, selective logging is time consuming and more expensive than clearing trees but it does preserve the forest's assets more effectively.

Selective Logging

Another example of sustainable forest management is allowing young trees time to mature. Young trees may have an intrinsic value, but this will inevitably increase as the tree matures.

Tree planting can increase the size of the forest and provide protected habitats for a wide variety of plant and animal species. 

It can be seen that forests provide a vital function in helping life on earth survive and prosper. It is therefore imperative that they are protected through sustainable forest management methods.

Polmac (UK) Ltd obtains wood and wood based products, used to manufacture it's customized, wood presentation boxes, display boxes and gift boxes from managed and sustainable forests, in order to  protect the environment for future generations.

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