Consumption, resources, and the environment: What you need to know.

Wood is good! When considering all of the potential uses of wood, from making paper to building your house, wood is a great natural resource. One of the biggest upsides of wood use is the fact that in many cases wood is important in the carbon cycle, and when left to its own devices often lead to a carbon neutral impact on the environment. According to an article by Sustainability Run, during a tree's 20-50 year lifespan they can sequester an average of 13 to 50 kg of carbon each year. This equates to large amounts of carbon removed from the environment when thinking of entire forests doing this. The tree then holds this carbon for years until it is either decomposed or used as fuel. Wood is also much cheaper to use in building vs. cement as a 2x4 from home depot costs $7.35 right now, which equates to about 82 cents per pound, whereas cement goes for 2-3$ per pound. Another really nice thing about wood is that throughout the whole process from removal to manufacturing of the lumbe

  Wood You Consider?  When considering what wood is used for, many people often think of the obvious: lumber, paper, and furniture. While those things are very important and have a large impact on wood use there are countless other ways in which wood is used in our everyday lives. The issue lies in the fact that wood takes a long time to grow, and at the rate we consume it by various means. But just how are we using wood, and what portions of wood are used for different aspects? Furthermore, just how sustainable are our current wood production practices? Woodn’t You Like to Know Products made from wood are all around us all the time: The frame for your house, your notebook, mulch or wood chips, fuel for a late night bonfire, etc. but where is it all coming from and how are we able to continually get more when considering the length of time it takes for a tree to grow? Well currently around 33% of US land is covered by forests which equates to around 751 million acres (lesson 9). Howe