Deep Dive:
Locally-Sourced Natural Wood
Ethical Sourcing of Lumber
The natural wood lumber in my exhibit is sourced locally from the UConn Forest, which benefits social health and equity, environmental health, and climate health.
When working with lumber, there are many potential ethical issues at play.
First, timber is an industry particularly at risk of having human rights violations such as child and forced labor in its supply chain. Forests that are harvested illegally or unethically may result in local or indigenous communities being displaced.
Not only can the timber industry harm people, but it can also harm the environment. Certain trees have been or are at risk of being overharvested, to the point where they are critically endangered. Other harms include habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, decreased soil quality, and increased carbon emissions to name a few.
Through local sourcing, I avoided any human rights violations. I was also able to minimize the carbon footprint of my lumber. There are three primary reasons for this:
Much of UConn Forestry’s lumber is dried in a solar-powered kiln.
Some of the wood harvested by UConn Forestry is salvaged from already dead trees or fallen logs.
The lumber did not need to be shipped any distance.
The live edge wood in Material World is aspen, which, when harvested responsibly, can actually benefit a local ecosystem. Aspen does not reproduce in full sunlight, so in shaded old growth forests, new aspen trees cannot sprout. When the canopy of a shaded old growth forest is disturbed, typically by a natural disaster, it allows sunlight to reach the ground, and for species such as aspen to sprout saplings in dense new growth called young forest. Young forest is an important habitat for hundreds of species of animals. Responsible harvesting, like that conducted by UConn Forestry, can help to ensure that an ecosystem has a healthy balance of old and young forests.
There are resources to help with ethical wood sourcing. Although the wood in Material World is not third-party certified, as the cost to achieve certification would likely be prohibitive for a small operation, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification is a common label that indicates a wood product is harvested from sustainably-managed forests. Additionally, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) maintains a database of species that have restrictions on trade. While CITES does not solely regulate wood, the Wood Database keeps a condensed, wood-specific version of the list. A separate organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publishes a Red List of Threatened Species. The Wood Database also maintains a specific list of the at-risk tree species on this list. Looking through these lists, I can see that aspen is not listed as restricted or endangered on CITES or IUCN.
Locally-Sourced Natural Wood: Process
Initially, I planned to take the lumber from the UConn Forest and process it into uniform boards that could be made into panels for the exhibit that were either flat or faceted to follow the curvature of the main structure.
In my early material calculations, I used measurements from my Rhino model to try to figure out how much lumber I would need for panels.
However, as I sat with the wood, which all came to me in the form of rough-hewn live edge boards, I fell in love with its natural character. There was one piece, in particular, that had gorgeous patterning in the bark, insect holes, and subtle figuring of the grain. When I stood the board on end, it was easy to imagine it as part of a tree.
As I began to plan how to mill the wood into uniform boards, I became sad about how much of the character of the wood would be lost. As a result, I decided to embrace the board’s raw qualities and use it as an opportunity to highlight its beauty.
The darker brown bark on the live edge board I used has beautiful patterns and variation in color.
Since the live edge boards are less processed than other components of the exhibit, preparing them for the exhibit was a much simpler process. First, I planed down each side of the board to remove some areas that were still rough-hewn, and also to see if the bark was strong enough to stay on the board.
The bark survived the planer, and so I went through and hand-sanded it to remove any splintery pieces. Next, I went over the entire board with an orbital sander. I completed the same process with the other smaller live edge boards.
After sanding, I tested three different finishing options on a scrap piece of wood. The PolyWhey brought out the wood’s character the most and also would be most durable, so I applied two coats to both of my live edge boards.
The figuring in the wood grain, seen as a wavy variations in the wood almost like ripples in water, gained dimension with a coat of PolyWhey.
Once I applied the PolyWhey, all that was left was cutting the boards to size. The board running through the whole exhibit is screwed in at the top, and the two halves backed by darker plywood are screwed to the plywood panels from the back.
Before cutting the live edge board down to size, it was far taller than the walls of the exhibit.
I cut my second live edge board in half and backed it with pieces of plywood stained dark brown.
The live edge board travels through holes machined in each layer of the exhibit wall. After cutting the bottom edge square, I used the wall as a reference to cut the top down to size.
Evaluating Sustainability
I believe that the live edge wood in the exhibit is the material with the fewest trade offs. Many of the issues that come with the lumber industry, such as child and forced labor, overharvesting, and large carbon footprints for kiln-drying and shipping, are negated by the fact that my boards were locally-sourced from a supplier that harvests wood sustainably.
The one potential trade-off of the live-edge wood in the exhibit lies not in the wood itself but with the finish I put on it, PolyWhey. PolyWhey contains plastic. If I were to put the board back into the forest post-display to biodegrade, I would be introducing plastics. A finish like hemp oil, by contrast, is fully biodegradable.
You can read more about the finishes in my exhibit here.
I will not be disposing of the live edge boards, though. I love the wood so much that I plan on keeping it after the exhibit is over and either displaying it or turning it into something new.