Natural Climate Solutions

Reconnecting People and Forests

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Innovation, Mass Timber, Sustainability

Wood Innovations

Shifting from Plastics to Planet

This Earth Day, we’re wading into the great Planet Vs. Plastic debate. And we’re #forestproud to throw in behind Planet, just like we do all the other days of the year.

Plastics aren’t great for the planet. But when you look at the things we use every day, plastics and petroleum-based products are an essential part of our lives. From electronics, to packaging, to the windows and walls of our buildings, to our energy grid, fossil fuels and derivatives are everywhere, all the time. Wouldn’t it be great if we could replace these unsustainable products with renewable, recyclable, biodegradable, carbon-storing options that are good for the planet – and still functional for your everyday needs?

We’re working on it as a society: consumers are more likely to BYOB(ags) to the stores or ask for paper, plastic straws are on their way down, and concerns over single-use plastics are up. However, knowing what to ask for *instead* of plastics is half the battle. We’re not going to spend a lot of time talking up paper plates, paper cups, compostable packaging and cutlery, bio-based packaging, pine needle “plastic” bags, and other standbys for helping consumers move away from single-use plastics (but we will give them the shout-out they deserve!) (Actually, we may do a full blog on cool packaging innovations... * let us know if you’re interested!)

What we want to do now is look at the harder stuff – the stuff that is either so big, so ubiquitous, or so small it feels impossible to change. We’re talking about innovating the way we build buildings, the way we power our homes, and make our electronic goods. This deep dive starts with windows, goes to the walls, to concrete, to electronics, and ends with electricity itself (not a plastic, we know, but humor us here. Wood can help solve our energy needs just as it can help us innovate and design plastic out of all the things that energy powers.)

Let's start with the windows...

We're #forestproud to see transparent wood emerging as one of the most promising materials of the future. Our friends at the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory wondered if looking through trees was the view to a greener future. “Trees replacing windows—not just the frames, but the actual clear pane glass—is not a work of science fiction. It’s happening now.”

Transparent wood is created when wood from the fast-growing, low-density balsa tree is treated to a room temperature, oxidizing bath that bleaches it of nearly all visibility. The wood is then penetrated with a synthetic polymer called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), creating a product that is virtually transparent.

The natural cellulose in its wood structure and energy-absorbing polymer filler in transparent wood means that it is far more durable and lighter than glass. It can withstand much stronger impacts than glass and, unlike glass, it bends or splinters instead of shattering.

Switching to transparent wood could prove to be cost efficient as well. It is approximately five times more thermally efficient than glass, cutting energy costs. It is made from a sustainable, renewable resource with low carbon emissions. It’s also compatible with existing industrial processing equipment, making the transition into manufacturing an easy prospect.

With all these potential benefits for consumers, manufacturing and the environment, the case for transparent wood couldn’t be…clearer.

To the walls…

If you’ve followed us for long, you know we love us some mass timber and we talk about it all the time. But what is it? Mass Timber is a catch-all term for a family of engineered wood components. As our friends over at Think Wood and Naturally Wood lay out, mass timber products are made from layers of wood, “multiple solid wood panels nailed or glued together, which provide exceptional strength and stability,” as well as offering "a structurally efficient yet low-carbon alternative to steel or concrete.” This technology is both centuries old and brand new, as the building and forest sector are constantly innovating to build taller, stronger, and faster as we meet housing demands and work to shift our buildings from a climate problem to a climate solution. Check out this cool animation below from our friends at the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) featuring some of the different mass timber product types:

Mass Timber is an essential product in our forest climate-solution toolbox that is helping us build better buildings, faster, and more sustainably. Mass timber - combined with light-frame construction - can deliver on value, longevity, speed of construction and flexibility. Mass timber helps us build faster and more efficiently, keeps carbon locked away, and allows us to provide homes that are good for people and planet.

From the walls to the concrete…

At a cellular level - one millionth the size of the head of a pin - are the microscopic building blocks of a tree. Cellulose is a basic building block of plant cells and is key to keeping plants and trees upright. (Think: those stringy bits in celery, but very, very small.) A single rod-like cellulose nanocrystal is the tiniest building block of wood. Each crystal is one hundred million times smaller than the head of a pin and can only be seen through a powerful scanning electron microscope. Nanocellulose – cellulose in its smallest microscopic form – has immense and untapped potential to create win-win solutions for people and planet.

Photo Credit: US Forest Service, US Endowment, #forestproud

These tiny fibers are as strong as steel, but only one-fifth the weight. Because of their structures, nanocellulose materials also have a high rate of biocompatibility - meaning they can easily be added to, or combined with, other materials. In other words, we can take the climate powers of trees and add them to non-tree materials, like concrete and steel to make them stronger and lighter.

Currently, “if concrete were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases on Earth, behind only China and the United States.” The USDA Forest Service State, Private & Tribal Forestry Cooperative Forestry Wood Innovations program, Oregon State University, Siskiyou County, California, and the US Endowment teamed up to test a nanocellulose additive to concrete aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Yreka Bridge shows how adding Cellulosic Nanocrystals to a concrete mix can reduce the amount of cement in a standard concrete mix. This reduction in cement saves a considerable amount of CO2 emissions, makes concrete lighter and more durable - and it also stores carbon in the concrete. 

Wood-infused concrete can help make our buildings, homes, and our built environment greener. By adding nanocellulose to concrete, it’s been proven possible to increase its strength and help shift an essential building material like concrete from being a carbon problem to a being a carbon solution.

And from concrete to electronics.

Nanocellulose – thanks to its high biocompatibility rate that we talked about – can be added to a lot more than concrete. Enter electronics and electronic parts. We rely on electronic parts pretty much in every moment of our lives. And you guessed it, we can add wood and make these things greener, less emissions-heavy, and help turn even the tiniest bit into a carbon-storing component.

“UW–Madison engineers and collaborators constructed a functional microwave amplifier circuit — a common piece of electronics used in wireless communications — on a flexible substrate made of wood fiber. Wood-based nanomaterials can be used to make electronic components like this one pictured, computer chips, car panels, replacement tendons, car tires, and coatings that keep food fresh longer.”

Electronics can grow on trees thanks to nanocellulose paper semiconductors. Osaka University researchers, in collaboration with The University of Tokyo, Kyushu University, and Okayama University, have developed a nanocellulose paper semiconductor that provides both nano−micro−macro trans-scale designability of the 3D structures and wide tunability of the electrical properties”. This innovation has been tested and modeled and “examples of successful applications showed nanopaper semiconductor sensors incorporated into wearable devices to detect exhaled moisture breaking through facemasks and moisture on the skin. The nanopaper semiconductor was also used as an electrode in a glucose biofuel cell and the energy generated lit a small bulb.” Curious to dig into more ways that wood is adding versatility and expanding the potential in the world of electronics? Here’s a great place to start reading. (Bonus: this article talks more about wooden satellites – yes, you read that right.)

And (last but not least) electronics to electricity itself.

Bioenergy has entered the building. Literally. We know it’s not plastic, but it sure is fossil fuels heavy. So humor us on this. While we've long used wood for fuel, this innovative iteration of domestic bioenergy sourced from woody byproducts scales up to meet our modern energy demands. Domestic wood bioenergy and biofuels are reshaping our energy landscape, deriving energy from sustainable wood byproducts and reducing our carbon footprint. From wood chips to pellets, these byproducts fuel biomass boiler systems, offering cleaner alternatives to fossil fuels. We're effectively turning waste into watts, powering our homes and cities with renewable energy. Check out the video below from the Wood Innovations Program within Forest Service State, Private & Tribal Forestry Cooperative Forestry on how a Vermont school is using domestic wood energy to power its energy needs. In addition to using domestic wood energy, areas of the country like Vermont and the Northern Forest are also using local wood pellets and chips in automated systems to heat homes, schools, and businesses that in turn support sustainable forestry practices. Transitioning to wood from heating with oil or propane can reduce carbon footprints by 50% and make efficient use of wood waste and this renewable resource. This is just one example of the many ways that organizations and communities in Vermont and the rest of the USA are using domestic wood energy to reduce their carbon footprint and their waste footprint at the same time.

Woody byproducts are the backbone of this renewable bioenergy, supporting local economies, reducing fossil fuel dependency, and maintaining forests in a sustainable cycle. It's a win-win-win. This renewable source not only powers our homes and industries but also fosters healthier forests. Bioenergy is a game-changer, steering us towards a greener, renewable, and sustainable energy future.

As we embrace the shift towards biobased, renewable, sustainable products and transition away from fossil fuels and plastics, it’s more important than ever to manage our forests to meet the needs of today and of tomorrow.

Forests are intricate ecosystems. Through sustainable forest management practices, foresters and other natural resource professionals ensure forests continue to delicately balance the needs of society for biodiversity, carbon storage, timber production, clean air, clean water, and quality of life essentials.

In forestry, sustainability isn't just a buzzword; it's a crucial aspect of balancing and maintaining forests and all the great things they do for people and planet. By implementing sustainable forestry practices, we're not only protecting wildlife habitats, delivering essential products, and needed innovations but also mitigating the impacts of climate change. Managing forests responsibly reduces our carbon footprint, supports a thriving bio-based economy, and ensures a stable supply of wood-based products.

We hope you read all the links you opened in new tabs, take a deep dive into the world of wood innovations, and are newly inspired to choose wood. This Earth Day and every day, consumer choices and forest management actions directly impact the Planet vs Plastics debate facing our future consumer choices, our forests, and our ability to deliver, sustain, and scale forest-climate solutions like the innovations featured here.

Climate Tech

Reimagining Our Cities

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Mass Timber

Mass Timber + Affordable Housing

As our cities continue to grow, so do the challenges they face. Reimagine the way society lives, works, and plays by moving our cities from climate problems, to climate solutions.

Sustaining Biodiversity in the Face of Climate Change

Forest Management is Key

Forests, crucial spaces for biodiversity and climate regulation, are facing increasing threats from climate change.

Forest management is key to sustaining biodiversity in the face of climate change.

Forests provide habitat for thousands of species, regulate climate, purify air and water, and support the livelihoods – and lives – of millions of people. As one of the planet’s most significant carbon sinks, forests play a pivotal role in regulating our climate by absorbing and storing carbon dioxide (CO2), so ensuring forests remain resilient and healthy is an essential part of climate change mitigation strategies.

With changing climate conditions leading to extreme weather events, altered precipitation patterns, and rising temperatures, and with human activities like land conversion and urbanization adding additional pressures, forests, and the diverse life they support, are under increasing strain.

Forest management has a critical role to play to help us ensure resilient habitats for wildlife and thriving natural climate solutions for today and tomorrow. Forestry encompasses the science, art, and practice of managing forests sustainably for various purposes, including timber production, wildlife habitat preservation, recreation, and ecosystem services. Effective forest management involves a holistic approach that considers ecological, economic, and social factors.

Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to forests. Rising temperatures, droughts, flooding, fires, the spread of pests and diseases, and extreme weather events are threatening the health and resilience of forest ecosystems. These changes are exacerbating the biodiversity crisis, with many species becoming more and more vulnerable to extinction. In the face of these threats, proactive forest management is more crucial than ever.

23 - Forest Challenges - Twitter Feed v1_ContentLibrary

Here's why:

By preserving and restoring the wide range of habitats inherent in different forests, forest management plays a vital role in conserving biodiversity. Strategic land-use planning, protected area management, and habitat restoration initiatives can help safeguard the rich diversity of plant and animal species that depend on forests for survival. Just as not all forests are the same, not all species need the same habitat, so careful, targeted, and varied forest management is needed to ensure biodiversity and the persistence of vulnerable habitats and species.

Forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services essential for human well-being, including filtering air and water, regulating climate by storing carbon, providing pollinator habitat, and enhancing our quality of life. Sustainable forest management ensures that these services are maintained for future generations. Forests are not only valuable for their ecological functions but also for the livelihoods and cultural heritage practices of communities. Responsible forest management can support sustainable forestry practices, create employment opportunities, and generate income while conserving natural resources for future generations.

Finally, well-managed forests are more resilient to the impacts of climate change, which helps not only the overall health of the forest and planet, but also the millions of things that live in them. Practices such as selective logging, prescribed burning, and reforestation can help maintain forest health and create essential habitat. This management also reduces the risk of wildfires and enhances carbon sequestration, mitigating climate change effects and creating essential spaces for biodiversity. Forest management strategies can contribute to both adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. By enhancing forest resilience and carbon storage capacity, well-managed forests can help communities adapt to changing environmental conditions while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Healthy, adaptive, and resilient forests are essential to provide habitat for wildlife, help us address the climate challenge, and sustain human well-being. However, the combined threats of climate change and the biodiversity crisis are putting immense pressure on these vital ecosystems. By embracing sustainable forest management practices, we can help protect and restore forests, ensuring resilient habitats for wildlife and building climate resilience for future generations.

We’re #forestproud to celebrate the importance of forests in our fight against climate change and support forest management practices that keep forests as forests, for today and for tomorrow.

You can help too: donate and help us continue our work to protect, promote, and enhance climate-resilient forests. Tell your friends what makes you #forestproud to support natural climate solutions.

Climate Tech

Reimagining Our Cities

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Mass Timber

Mass Timber + Affordable Housing

As our cities continue to grow, so do the challenges they face. Reimagine the way society lives, works, and plays by moving our cities from climate problems, to climate solutions.

Urban Wood Utilization

From Trash to Treasure

In a given year, an estimated 15 - 30 million tons of urban wood is wasted across the country, ending up in landfills, releasing carbon back into the atmosphere as the wood rots slowly away.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

At its core, urban and community wood utilization diverts wood from waste streams and landfills, creating value, driving new markets, generating employment opportunities, and storing carbon in wood destined for landfills. The wood comes from two main streams: 1) fresh cut and recovered from trees coming down in urban and community areas and 2) wood salvaged from building deconstruction.

Let's talk about that first stream of wood waste.

Planting and maintaining trees is an essential part of growing a climate-resilient city. Trees shade our streets and homes, reducing our energy costs and providing shade and cool spots in our increasingly hot urban spaces; they filter our air, clean our water, and provide beauty and a renewed sense of connection to nature. As they grow, trees continually store carbon, locking it away from the atmosphere.

No matter how you look at it, urban forests are collectively a living climate solution to today’s climate crisis.

But, as we plant more trees and grow our urban and community forests to meet today’s needs, there will inevitably come tomorrow’s question: What will we do with the trees when they come down? And they will come down, in whole or in part, from natural disasters, pests and disease, drought, new construction, homeowner maintenance, utility line needs, or old age.

Urban wood utilization began with a goal to explore new uses for urban wood waste but is quickly growing into a holistic means to drive a circular, bio-based urban economy that addresses complex ecological, economic, and social challenges across the country.

Recovering and reclaiming wood waste helps us build and grow local wood economies, create jobs, store carbon, and position cities to achieve sustainability and climate resiliency goals. Each new product and business built around urban wood creates a story and product that connects trees in our communities to homes and people in a tangible way. It drives community and employment revitalization and reduces wood waste, all while reimagining our cities—and our urban wood streams—as opportunities for innovation and climate solutions.

The urban wood movement is here to stay, and we’re #forestproud to see it grow.

New to the urban forestry conversation? Check out our series on what the urban forests is, why it matters, why we measure it, and why we are #forestproud to see it grow.

Read the Urban Forestry Origin Story

Learn what the urban tree canopy is

Read about the need for green among the gray

Take a Deep Dive! In December 2022, the CA Urban Wood Academy was held but space was limited. The range of topics and expertise at the Academy was so valuable that CAL FIRE and the USDA Forest Service provided funding to capture the educational highlights. We're pleased to share a full 6.5 hours of FREE high-quality educational content, cut down and packaged into a virtual workshop learning experience via a series of presentations, hosted on SAF ForestEd. This workshop lecture series offers the opportunity to earn 5.5 SAF and ISA continuing education credits. This free virtual workshop is for anyone looking to build or refresh knowledge around urban wood utilization and how the wood product supply chain is key to making significant environmental, social and economic impacts on communities of all sizes. The information presented here ties together urban and community forest management, plans for reducing tree waste, scaling up urban wood utilization and production, creating zero-waste biomass campuses, and connecting to the demand-side of the marketplace.

Virtual Workshop Access Link

Reimagining Our Cities

Urban Forests

RECLAIMED | The Urban Wood Project

The Urban Wood Project began as a quest to reclaim wood from abandoned city homes. It very quickly became about so much more.

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Reconnecting People and Forests

Reimagining Our Cities

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Urban Forests

Urban Wood.

Recover. Reuse. Regrow.

Planting and maintaining trees is an essential part of growing a climate-resilient city. But, as we plant more trees and grow the tree canopy in our communities to meet today’s needs , there will inevitably come tomorrow’s question: What will we do with the trees when they come down?

And they will come down, in whole or in part, from natural disasters, pests and disease, drought, new construction, homeowner maintenance, utility line needs, or old age.

Trees store carbon as they grow. That carbon is locked away in its branches, limbs, trunk, and roots.

Here is the challenge: When trees come down in a community, they rarely get a second life. In a given year, an estimated 15 - 30 million tons of urban and community wood is wasted across the country, ending up in landfills, releasing carbon back into the atmosphere as the wood rots slowly away.

At its core, urban wood utilization involves diverting wood from waste streams and creating a second life for urban trees. Each new product and business built around urban wood reduces wood waste, drives new markets, generates local employment opportunities, keeps carbon stored longer, and creates an economy that connects forests to communities in a tangible way. Urban wood utilization offers immense potential to reimagine our cities—and our urban wood streams—as opportunities to develop innovative products and support climate solutions.

The urban wood movement is here to stay, and we’re #forestproud to see it grow.

New to the urban forestry conversation? Check out our series on what the urban forests is, why it matters, why we measure it, and why we are #forestproud to see it grow.

Read the Urban Forestry Origin Story

Learn what the urban tree canopy is

Read about the need for green among the gray

Virtual Workshop Access Link

Reconnecting People and Forests

Reimagining Our Cities

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Urban Forests

Urban Wood Utilization

Explore what actually goes into managing urban trees and forests and how communities are balancing economic, environmental, and climate goals.

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Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Wildfire

Carbon + Climate Change, Fire, Forest Management

Fighting Fire with Fire

Wildfires & Prescribed Burning

Since pre-historic times, fire has played a role in shaping North America’s forests, removing dead and unhealthy trees, fostering new growth, and returning important nutrients to the soil. We sometimes refer to forests that have evolved with fire as "fire-dependent" forests.

As our populations grew, there were more people living in and among forests, creating what we now call the “wildland urban interface” aka WUI (pronounced: “woo-wee.”) For the better part of the last century, we actively suppressed natural fire cycles to protect Americans’ homes and communities. Today, as a direct result, natural fire cycles have essentially been eliminated, and our forests have become unnaturally dense and packed with fuel for wildfires to burn.

Over 90% of wildfires are human caused (insert #forestproud friend Smokey Bear's voice: #onlyyou), and some of them, fueled by this buildup up of dead dry and thick undergrowth, can grow to become catastrophic, threatening lives, communities, natural resources, and public infrastructure.

We know you’ve noticed it, too: in the wrong place at the wrong time, fire can spell big problems. Catastrophic wildfires have the power to turn our forests from carbon sinks into carbon sources. Wildfires generally produce really bad smoke, and, based on the latest research, that smoke will only get worse.

Unfortunately, throughout North America, there is no longer a "wildfire season" (the time of year when fires are most likely to spark and burn) but rather a “fire year.” Made worse by the changing climate, the US now battles wildfire year-round, with some regions experiencing over 300 days a year of fire risk.

The practice of prescribed burning is a crucial forest management tool for combating wildfires in many areas of the US. In fact, for thousands of years, Indigenous communities have used controlled burns to emulate a more natural fire cycle.

What is Prescribed Fire?

Not all fire is bad. Prescribed burning is a forest management practice that involves intentionally setting fires under controlled conditions. (Setting a small fire on purpose can also be referred to as Rx Fire, good fire, or a controlled burn.) These fires are carefully planned and executed to reduce the amount of fuel, such as dead wood, trees, and dry debris, on the forest floor, which, when left unburned, build up over time to become a major source of fuel for wildfires.

In the right place at the right time, Rx fire creates environmental benefits, such as reducing grass and brush species that fuel wildfires, improving habitats for wildlife, and returning nutrients to the soil. Prescribed burning also helps to promote new vegetation growth and create natural “fire breaks” that slow the spread of wildfires by reducing access to flammable fuel. (It’s worth noting that while prescribed fires produce some smoke, the smoke is significantly different than the wildfire smoke levels.)

: Learn more -> https://southernforests.org/resources/campaigns-initiatives/prescribed-fire-in-the-south/

Relearning Prescribed Burning

Unfortunately, only a fraction of the land in the US that could benefit from controlled burns is actually treated with Rx fire. This is due to a variety of factors, including funding constraints, liability considerations, and concerns about air quality and public safety. The consequences are clear, though: when wildfires do occur, they are more intense and difficult to control. This vicious cycle will continue unless we take action to address the root causes of the problem.

Recently, there's been a big push to: 1) incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into fire science, 2) increase the use of controlled burns as part of regular forest management activities and 3) invest in a coordinated effort to reduce catastrophic wildfire risk. Last year, the US Forest Service published a 10-year plan to confront and combat the wildfire crisis with more controlled burns and support for fire crews across the nation.

Fighting Forest Fires with Forest Fires

So, what can we do? You can support and promote the use of prescribed burning. Instead of putting out every fire, we need to better incorporate fire into our forest management toolboxes.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to forest stewardship. In North America, we are fortunate to have a truly diverse range of people and organizations committed to using these tools to protect the health of our forests. It includes families and businesses, conservation and non-profit organizations, government agencies, researchers, communities, and courageous wildland firefighters.

Today’s forest stewards – armed with the latest technology and best management practices – are committed to making choices that keep forests as forests. But we can’t do it alone. We need help spreading the word that we can reduce the impacts of wildfires through responsible, proactive forest management. Healthy forests are a natural climate solution.

Check out the video below to learn even more about the benefits of burning in a fire forest.

Reconnecting People and Forests

Fire, Forest Management, People

Restoration in a Fire Forest: The Benefits of Burning

The Northwest Fire Science Consortium's new video showcases the role of prescribed fire.

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Forest 101

Natural Climate Solutions

Reconnecting People and Forests

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products

How Your Packaging Choices Directly Invest in Our Planet

Make a #forestproud packaging choice. Happy Earth Day

Carbon | Instagram Story | 01_ContentLibrary

Earth Day may only come once a year. Earth Week only lasts a week. But you can #InvestInOurPlanet for the remaining 364 days and 51 weeks by choosing sustainable packaging products that support a circular bio-economy, based on – yep – wood: a renewable, reusable, recyclable resource that keeps forests as forests.

This year's Earth Day theme focuses on encouraging governments, organizations, businesses, and over 7 billion citizens—everyone accounted for, and everyone accountable—to help create a greener, more eco-friendly world by:

Acting (boldly)
Innovating (broadly)
Implementing (equitably)

Enter sustainable packaging: the environmentally friendly (and cost-effective!) packaging options you can use to make a #forestproud choice.

Why Sustainable Packaging?

Sustainable packaging is a critical component of a more sustainable future. By avoiding waste, conserving resources, reducing our global fossil fuels dependency with the associated carbon emissions, and minimizing environmental impact, sustainable packaging can help create a greener, more resilient global economy.

Sustainable packaging choices can take many forms, including:

Biodegradable and compostable materials
Recycled or up-cycled materials
Reusable or refillable containers
Minimizing energy required for production and transportation
Ensuring that packaging can be easily recycled or disposed of in a responsible way
Creating pathways and products to design out waste and reduce landfill content

How does this work? Carbon 101

All trees capture and store the carbon dioxide (CO2) as they grow. They absorb CO2 during photosynthesis and release oxygen (O2). Mills use wood from various types of trees to make pallets, furniture, paper, paperboard, and other wood pulp products. This transfers the carbon in the trees to the wood products themselves. Meanwhile, new trees are planted, locking away even more carbon as they grow.

The Best Sustainable Packaging Supplies

Cardboard

Yes, the old standby. For a reason!! Cardboard is the most frequently used packaging material because it is renewable, sustainable, and highly recyclable.

Cardboard can be broken down and made into new paper products, including new boxes, cereal containers, pizza boxes, and toilet paper.

DYK: Wood fiber has the capacity to be reused 5-7 times before it breaks down past the point of being structurally sound?

Pallets

Pallets make the shipping world go ‘round. New or old, pallets keep a-palleting.

Whether you are buying all new pallets for a big shipment or using recycled pallets at work or in your home, there are a ton of ways to add pallets into your packaging portfolio and your home decor. (Reduce! Reuse! Repurpose! PSA: Cardboard boxes are a big hit with cats too, as a bonus.)

Watch the 3 quick clips below to learn more about how pallets are planet-positive.

Brown Paper

Admit it: You love popping the bubble wrap that protects your online orders. Unfortunately, traditional bubble wrap is made from plastic and is not biodegradable, making it a less-than-ideal option for environmentally conscious companies.

Enter brown paper packaging tied up with string…

Brown paper is made by cooking wood chips in a special solution that breaks down the lignin in the wood, separating the cellulose fibers, which are used to make paper. Since trees are replanted and regrown for future needs, brown paper packaging is a more sustainable option compared to materials made from non-renewable resources. It’s also biodegradable and can be easily recycled. If you can’t or forget to recycle it, when disposed of in the environment, it will break down naturally and not contribute to the accumulation of petroleum-based waste in our landfills.

.....so basically, anything cellulose.

At a cellular level - one millionth the size of the head of a pin - are the microscopic building blocks of a tree. Cellulose is a basic building block of plant cells and is key to keeping plants and trees upright. (Think: those stringy bits in celery, but very, very small.) A single rod-like cellulose nanocrystal is the tiniest building block of wood. Cellulose (and it’s even smaller form: Nanocellulose) is the most abundant biopolymer on the planet.

These tiny fibers are as strong as steel, but only one-fifth the weight. Because of their structures, nanocellulose materials have a high rate of biocompatibility - meaning they can easily be added to, or combined with, other materials. When incorporated into other materials, nanocellulose lends incredible strength, requires less emissions-intensive material, and drives innovations that help design waste out of an already-efficient sustainable forest management cycle. By leaning into the unique properties of wood and cellulose, we can reduce our dependence on non-renewable resources and move towards a more sustainable future.

Cellulose and its derivatives can be used for a wide range of packaging applications, including:

Paper: Paper is made by breaking down cellulose fibers and then reconstituting them into a sheet. While paper production does require some energy and water, it is a relatively low-impact process compared to other industrial processes.
Food Packaging: Cellulose-based materials like cellophane and parchment paper are commonly used to wrap and store food products. Many food manufacturers are exploring the use of cellulose-based materials as an alternative to plastic packaging, which would reduce the amount of plastic waste generated by the food industry.

As just one example of packaging innovation, here’s a new eco-bubble wrap. It doesn’t pop but it’s really cool.

Also, let's talk new beer rings made of cardboard. Yep. You can have your beer and recycle it all.

As a bonus, the sustainable packaging world is continually innovating to come up with cool new ways to design waste and fossil fuels out of the supply chain and create more efficient packaging strategies. Check out the Pack It! The Packaging Recycling Design Challenge, a two-episode series hosted by Netflix’s “Nailed It!” winner, social influencer and art teacher, Cassie Stephens.

Happy packing. Thanks for reading this far. We appreciate you making choices that affect people and planet, today and tomorrow. We all have a part to play in keeping forests as forests - and it starts with you. So keep the 5Rs of #forestproud in mind, today and every day.

Natural Climate Solutions

Forest Benefits, Forest Management

Forest Champion Spotlight | Tyrone Williams

As a 3rd generation North Carolina landowner, Tyrone Williams opens up about the importance of keeping forests as forests and passing on his responsibility to future generations.

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Climate Tech

Reimagining Our Cities

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Mass Timber

Mass Timber: The Future of the Workplace

Northlake Commons | A mass timber project feature

Meet Northlake Commons: the future of the workplace.

TL;DR The future of workplace is good for people and planet. This is an exciting project with huge sustainability + climate implications. This project uses an innovative, eco-friendly building material to lower the overall carbon footprint of the building. Yep, we mean wood.

A mass timber, multi-use commercial office building has found its home on the north shores of Lake Union. Situated on Dunn Lumber’s original lumber yard (established 1913 and still active today!), the design pays homage to the legacy of Seattle’s rich timber history, while looking to the future of wood innovations, workplace environments, and neighborhood revitalization.

By 2050, over 70% of us will live in cities. As our cities grow, so do our challenges: dependence on fossil fuels, a growing disconnect with nature, and not enough housing and infrastructure to meet the needs of a booming population.

Emissions and materials are undoubtedly some of the construction sector’s greatest challenges. According to the United Nations, the built environment accounts for 39% of gross annual carbon emissions worldwide, a figure comprising operational carbon, the ongoing carbon emissions from its day-to-day use, and embodied carbon — all the CO2 emitted in producing materials.

While we can’t deny the need for more housing and more spaces to live, work, and play in cities and urban centers, that’s a lot of carbon emissions and a lot of non-renewable resources pouring into new builds. We need fresh solutions that are scalable, durable, renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient, and promote well-being for people and planet.

Fortunately, we can have our construction cake and eat it too. (Weird metaphor but stay with us here.)

Using wood, we have the power to reimagine our cities one building at a time.

But why is wood key to building a greener future together?

Trees draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a process called photosynthesis. This process produces various carbon-based sugars necessary for tree functioning and to make wood for growth. Every part of a tree stores carbon, from the trunks, branches, leaves, and roots.

In one year, a mature live tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide, which is permanently stored in its fibers until the tree or wood experiences a physical event that releases it into the atmosphere, like fire or decomposition.

By weight, dried wood material is roughly 50% carbon.

Practicing sustainable forestry, (grow, harvest, replant, regrow ) means that the full cycle of forests and wood products store carbon and have the greatest potential to lessen climate change impacts and keep carbon locked away in forests and wood. From constructing tall buildings to enhancing materials at the microscopic scale, wood products of any size can have big, positive environmental impacts in the fight to limit climate change.

This new office building will incorporate heavy timber and mass timber both indoors and out, opening onto the Burke-Gilman trail and the water beyond. The structural system is comprised of CLT panels atop glulam columns and girders, with a steel Buckling-Restrained Braced Frame lateral system. This innovative mass timber structural system has a much lighter footprint than other structural alternatives; a Life Cycle Assessment of the embodied carbon in the timber has been calculated to understand the carbon impact and emissions implications as compared to more conventional construction types.

Cities have long been labs for this type of innovation. So, even as our urban challenges continue to mount and grow in complexity, we are entering one of the most compelling opportunities in a generation to reimagine the way society lives, works, and plays. In transitioning our built environment from one that emits carbon to one that stores it, we are answering the needs of society for housing and infrastructure, while also answering the needs of our planet to do it more sustainably.

The ability for a building to act as a climate solution is incredibly valuable. Mass timber locks in and stores carbon in a way traditional building materials don’t. As a society, we are increasingly focused on the carbon and sustainability story associated with the buildings we build. With the building industry currently responsible for an estimated 20% of global emissions, mass timber is a climate game changer.

The Mass Timber Effect estimates that if we were to double the number of mass timber buildings built every year, the building industry could store more carbon than it emits by 2034.

Partners on this project include TimberLab, Swinerton, Weber Thompson, Spear Street Capital, DCI Engineers, and the Hess Callahan Grey Group. The Mass Timber materials were sourced our friends Kalesnikoff. This project also received a $250,000 Wood Innovation Grant from the U.S. Forest Service.

It is no wonder our friends and partners on this project and a climate-engaged workforce are looking to Mass Timber as an economic, social, and environmental solution. An innovative landmark, Northlake Commons elevates the human experience in the workplace, curating an building that brings professional and personal engagement together into a built environment that represents the future of city, of forests, and of our planet.

Climate Tech

Reimagining Our Cities

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Mass Timber

Mass Timber + Affordable Housing

As our cities continue to grow, so do the challenges they face. Reimagine the way society lives, works, and plays by moving our cities from climate problems, to climate solutions.

Big Green Health Machines

Why Urban Trees Are Good For People + Planet

Author: Alec Sabatini

Alec is the content writer at PlanIT Geo™, a global urban forestry consulting and tree management software firm.

Big Green Health Machines

TL:DR: Urban forests are good for people and planet. Read on for exactly how the tree outside your window makes you - and the planet - healthier.

Have you heard of a nature prescription? In countries around the world, doctors are prescribing time in nature as part of their treatment plan for patients. The practice has been spreading as study after study links nature and positive human health outcomes. The results of trees on health are both physical and mental. Modern science is defining many of the correlations, while some of the causes may be traced back to humanity’s origin.

The proven connection between nature and human health is also becoming a serious motivator for cities to support their urban forests.

Big Green Air Filters

There is a reason you don’t see city-scented candles. (Okay fine, I did check and there are some companies smartly marketing city-themed candles, but I have been to NYC and my strongest nose memories were not bergamot and jasmine.)

My point is, breaths of fresh air can be hard to come by in cities. The concentration of engines and industry loft pollutants into the air while traffic stirs up fine particulates. Trees are a proven method of combating urban air pollution, a major source of respiratory diseases.

Tiny pores in tree leaves, called stomata, take in air that includes pollutants like ground-level ozone and carbon monoxide. These gasses then diffuse and react with the inner leaf, removing them from circulation. Particulate matter (PM) is another common and harmful air pollutant. Trees temporarily “catch” PM on their leaves and stems where the next rain can wash them down to the soil.

For example, the urban forest of Greenville, North Carolina removes an estimated 648,000 pounds of pollution annually. The avoided health effects and other economic costs of that pollution are valued at over $1.2 million USD!

Pollution in cities contributes to increased asthma rates and is a leading contributor of global emissions and climate change. Bad air quality is bad for people, bad for planet. Urban trees lower asthma rates, clean the air, and help make the places where many of us live, work, and play healthier.

Big Green Carbon Machines

Trees are without a doubt the best carbon capture technology in the world. When tree leaves breathe, they take in carbon dioxide, release oxygen and store carbon in their trunks.

Wood is an incredible carbon sink because it is mostly made of carbon (about 50% by dry weight.) In addition to cleaning the air, releasing oxygen, and helping stop pollutants from washing into the water, trees lock away carbon as they grow. Keeping harmful pollutants out of the atmosphere and out of our lungs is a win-win.

Big Green Air Conditioners

Extreme heat is a major health threat for many cities. Climate change and the urban heat island effect are sending urban thermometers soaring, particularly in low-income and nonwhite neighborhoods. Consistent, high heat aggravates existing health conditions and is lethal in its own right.

It's a problem so severe some cities are appointing chief heat officers to lead the charge against rising temperatures. Urban trees are a key defense in any heat mitigation battle plan. Through shade and evapotranspiration (exchanging water vapor with the air) surface temperatures under a tree can be 20-45℉ cooler than adjacent unshaded areas.

Big Green Mood Boosters

There are abundant studies connecting greenspace with a range of mental health improvement. The COVID pandemic amplified the importance of urban greenspace as vital spaces for diversion and decompression. But why do large leafy things make us feel better?

Evolution probably plays a part. This four-walls-and-a-roof life is relatively new in the course of human history. The theory is that over millions of years, our ancestors who had stronger connections to nature held an evolutionary advantage (i.e. better at seeking shelter, food, and water) and that relationship has carried through to today.

A more recent explanation is that trees correlate or cause many factors humans benefit from, such as increased wildlife, comfortable environments for gathering and relaxing, and appealing aesthetics. These all have proven to ease our minds and boost our well-being. The street-side trees and park groves that make up the urban forest are the closest form of nature for most urbanites. Therefore keeping a healthy urban forest is invaluable for public health.

Big Green Health Rebalancers

Tree equity (balanced distribution of tree canopy across cities) is important. Residents who live in poorly forested neighborhoods are being denied a benefit all humans deserve: health.

Urban foresters have a lot of factors to weigh when planting new trees, and health impacts are becoming a common part of any prioritization plan. New data tools are emerging to push these efforts forward, such as NatureScore™, which scores the health impacts of surrounding nature based on any address in the continental United States.

For more on the importance of urban forests, check out our blog series on urban forests + poke around the site. Have a favorite street tree you want to give a social shout out to? Snap a selfie & tag us #forestproud.

Read the Urban Forestry Origin Story

Learn what the urban tree canopy is

Read about the need for green among the gray

Reimagining Our Cities

Urban Forests

RECLAIMED | The Urban Wood Project

The Urban Wood Project began as a quest to reclaim wood from abandoned city homes. It very quickly became about so much more.

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Community

Profiles

Reconnecting People and Forests

Careers, Community, Forest Management, Innovation, People

Adapting forests for a changing climate in the Adirondacks

An Interview with Forester Mike Federice

By Tony Mazza, Natural Resources Policy Specialist, SAF.

In late September 2022, I had the pleasure of visiting Huntington Forest at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). The higher peaks in the area were already displaying picturesque fall foliage, setting the scene for a pleasant weekend. I was invited by Dr. Marianne Patinelli-Dubay, who is the Environmental Philosophy Program Coordinator at ESF and SAF Adirondack’s Chapter Chair. During my weekend at Huntington, I had the immense pleasure of spending an afternoon with forester Mike Federice, who manages ESF’s forest properties in the Adirondacks. He is also SAF Adirondack’s Chapter Chair Elect. Federice gave me a generous tour of Huntington, which included a black bear sighting, local trivia, splendid vistas, and most impressively, a walk through the forest’s demonstration and research sites.

The back-to-back demonstration sites brought to life textbook silviculture treatments, some serving as important research projects attempting to address challenges forests face in northern latitudes. I was inspired by Federice’s knowledge, insight, and optimism around the future of the forest sector, and so I invited him to share more about his work with ESF.

Tony Mazza (TM): Hi Mike. To begin, would you introduce yourself?

Mike Federice (MF): I’m Mike Federice, a Forester with SUNY ESF Forest Properties. I manage ESF’s Adirondack Forest Properties in northern New York. Prior to working with ESF, I worked in industrial forestry and procurement in upstate New York and New England. I have always enjoyed the outdoors, which is what led me to become a forester.

TM: Can you tell us a bit more about ESF’s properties in the Adirondacks and the type of work carried out there?

MF: SUNY ESF maintains 20,000 acres of forest land in the Adirondacks, in addition to 4,000 acres in central New York. There are four different properties spread across the Adirondacks, each with their own defining characteristics and specific uses which make them unique. The primary purpose of the Forest Properties is to promote opportunities for teaching, research, and demonstration.

The properties are regularly used as an outdoor classroom, which is an indispensable learning tool for hands-on teaching. The properties also provide a setting for long- and short-term research across a multitude of topics like forestry, ecology, wildlife, biogeochemistry, and beyond. There are various examples of forest management techniques as a means of demonstration on some of the properties as well. Public recreation is currently permitted in some capacity on portions of three of the four Adirondack properties.

TM: During our tour of the Huntington Forest, you discussed how your research plots are addressing some of the leading threats to forests in the Adirondacks. Can you discuss some of the challenges you’re addressing and what your research suggests so far?

MF: The primary challenge we are facing at this time is associated with the effects of beech bark disease. Beech saplings are prolific throughout the understory across the majority of our hardwood stands. These saplings have little—if any—opportunity to develop beyond small diameter pulpwood. Since the saplings are already established in the understory, they impede regeneration of desirable species (i.e., sugar maple, yellow birch, red oak, white pine, hemlock, red spruce). In our more recent timber harvesting, we found it necessary to remove the beech saplings from the understory during harvesting in order to open the understory for desirable regeneration. This has been accomplished during logging using a feller buncher and a prescribed threshold for cutting beech saplings (i.e., 1” DBH or > 5 ft. tall). Timber harvest areas employed with this level of beech sapling removal are still in the early stages of regeneration and are being closely monitored as regeneration begins to appear. We have also seen that heavier cutting intensities help initiate a competitive advantage for regeneration of desirable species over beech.

Another challenge we are facing is climate change. Shorter and milder winters pose major concerns for winter logging. This is especially important here in the Adirondacks where many areas can only be accessed during frozen conditions. The cost of constructing a road only for winter use is considerably cheaper than a summer access road; this is particularly important in areas with low timber value. A long-term concern associated with climate change is the transition of tree species ranges. The Adaptive Capacity Through Silviculture (ACTS) study at Huntington Forest is intended to evaluate strategies for managing forest stands for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The ACTS study also includes a “Transition” area. Within the Transition blocks, tree species more characteristic of warmer sites will be planted and monitored for success. In many cases these species' current range does not include Huntington Forest, however, given temperature projection models, it is expected their ranges will shift to higher latitudes and elevations.

Other challenges the Adirondack properties are facing include white pine decline, forest tent caterpillar, and spongy moth. There have been recent management activities in areas affected by all three of the above concerns. Hemlock wooly adelgid, emerald ash borer, and beech leaf disease are also knocking on our door with anticipated management challenges that may facilitate additional research and demonstration projects for us. Another concern of mine is having an adequate contractor base of loggers and truckers in the future. The general trend in recent years has been a decrease in the number of crews available for logging, which may pose a challenge for us to successfully complete forest management projects.

TM: Given the research you’re doing, it’s clear you are thinking about what the future holds for the forest sector. What opportunities do you think are in store for forestry and forest management?

MF: I think there are more opportunities than ever for forestry and forest management. As a society, we are beginning to focus on sustainability and renewable resources. To me, this should mean a growing demand for forest-based products over traditional plastics, fossil fuels, steel, and concrete. I’m hopeful that forestry is recognized by our youth as an avenue for sustainability to help increase recruitment into the field.

TM: ESF is first and foremost a school and a research institution—and a strong one at that. On the topic of the future, can you talk to us about the work you do with students?

MF: On the Adirondack properties, we provide opportunities for field trips and tours of research projects and demonstration areas for ESF classes, as well as groups from other institutions. We are also able to facilitate research areas for students looking for specific sites on the properties with relevant data; we maintain extensive records going back many years that are often used by researchers. Last but certainly not least, Forest Properties often employs a summer crew to help with field work. This is a phenomenal opportunity for students and recent college graduates to gain boots-on-the-ground experience through a variety of forest and natural resources management projects.

In a time when our forests face such grand challenges and opportunities, it’s critical to have forestry professionals who are thinking creatively and strategically about the future of the sector. Central to that task is fostering a new generation of forestry professionals who are passionate and adaptive. We are grateful to Mike Federice and Dr. Marianne Patinelli-Dubay for their forward-thinking service to SAF and the profession.

Original article for the Forestry Source, January 2023 edition

Community

Careers, Community, Forest Management, Forest Products, Innovation, People

North Country is Calling

The Northern Forest Center and Northern Woodlands magazine collaborated to produce North Country Calling, a video series profiling young professionals who have chosen the Northern Forest as their home. The future of this region hinges on young people like these.

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Climate Tech

Reimagining Our Cities

Rethinking Our Carbon Future

Carbon + Climate Change, Forest Management, Forest Products, Mass Timber

Mass Timber + Affordable Housing

HEARTWOOD | A mass timber project feature

We recently explored the value of mass timber as a building solution with Jason McLin, director of real estate development finance for Community Roots Housing. The Heartwood project will bring workforce housing to central Seattle, filling a critical need for middle-income housing in the city. Equally critically, this project makes use of an innovative, eco-friendly building material (cross laminated timber or CLT), which lowers the overall carbon footprint of the structure. When completed, Heartwood is anticipated to be one of Washington’s tallest CLT buildings.

This is an exciting project with huge sustainability + climate implications.

By 2050, over 70% of us will live in cities. As our cities grow, so do our challenges: dependence on fossil fuels, non-recyclable waste, insufficient housing, and a growing disconnect with nature. Generating affordable housing is undoubtedly one of the construction sector’s greatest challenges. We need fresh solutions that are scalable, durable, energy-efficient, and promote well-being.

Fortunately, we have the power to reimagine our cities one building at a time.

It is no wonder organizations like Community Roots Housing (CRH) - an affordable housing non-profit, based in Seattle, WA - are looking to Mass Timber as an economic, social, and environmental solution.

The Mass Timber Effect estimates that if we were to double the number of mass timber buildings built every year, the building industry could store more carbon than it emits by 2034.

Partners on this film + project include Community Roots Housing, American Wood Council, TimberLab, Swinerton, and atelierjones llc. Materials sourced in part from Kalesnikoff + Freres. This project also received a $250,000 Wood Innovation Grant from the U.S. Forest Service to validate the feasibility of Type IV-C multifamily housing.

Reimagining Our Cities

Biomass + Renewable Energy, Carbon + Climate Change, Careers, Cities, Forest Management, Innovation, Mass Timber, People, Products, Urban Forests

FORESTS: Reimagining Our Cities

For the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in a city.

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