Recycling wood....in Ohio?

Question

Where my husband works there is an abundance of wood being scrapped after skids are made... In the winter we bring home a bunch and use it for our woodburner it's safe dried hardwood.. My question is, there a way or an organization out there that will buy the wood and repurpose it somehow... At the present the company just throws it away/or pays a hauler.

While I would somewhat agree with your polution statement...we keep our thermostat at 55 degrees all winter long...Which at times in below zero... Thus keeping our fuel consumption a lot lower than most..

Another guy that worked at the shop took the scrap wood home and made really beautiful furniture with it.. We got a nice console table for a wedding gift.. Anyone know of anyone in the Cleveland area that would do something like that?

Answer 1

I think the answer might lie in something called by-product synergy. http://www.usbcsd.org/byproductsynergy.asp

It's a mouthful, I know, but here is the basic concept: find businesses that use wood as a manufacturing input. Examples might include furniture makers, charcoal manufacturers or engineered wood product makers. Engineered wood products are basically a mixture of wood and adhesive that is generally considered as strong or stronger then virgin board. It's also environmentally superior since it uses wood more efficiently. So you could try to find an engineered wood product company and see if they can use the type of wood that your husband's business discards. This could actually be a great opportunity for your husband's company: where they are now paying tipping fees to dump wood in a landfill, they could be saving that money and making additional profit by selling their waste to another company as a raw material.

Answer 2

I think that, while woodburners make a lot of air pollution, you are actually using the extra wood in an environmentally responsible way as fuel to heat your house. Some people may disagree with that, but if it is normally just being scrapped as it is, you are doing one of the best things you could do with it.

*****UPDATE

I was thinking about this a little more, and you could actually use it in anothre environmentally conscious way... I really agree with the freecycle comment below, and also you could put an ad on Craigslist in Cleveland in the *free section.

Another thing I was thinking you could do with it, and you could actually make some money doing it or improve your yard, is rent a chipper and make mulch. You could use this mulch to decrease the amount of grass on your estate which will reduce water consumption, reduce the use of chemicals on your yard, and reduce carbon emissions by mowing as much yard. Yes, you will be using gas to run the chipper, but the mower will really put a lot out more considering you use it more often. Also, you could make your yard look REALLY great with some plants, mulch, and actually give back if you plant a few trees in clusters!

Answer 3

i might say Lake Erie . yet that's no longer a sensible one is it . So i might merely say call the city workplace and ask them somebody there I style of wager will comprehend if Toledo has any recycling plan in operation . If no longer use the lake consequence .

Answer 4

good question! here in Ohio we have a problem with emerald ash borer. I know that precautions are needed with moving scrap wood as to not spread that little bug arouond.

Answer 5

I don't know about selling it, but you can list it on www.freecycle.com where people who can use it will come and pick it up. If you don't already have this in your area, just go to the site and start it up. All posting are free, but all items listed or required are to also be free.