Friends of Friends of Trees: The Joinery

By Greg Tudor

Longtime Friends of Trees supporter (and FSC-certified manufacturer) The Joinery consistently sets the bar for sustainable practices, especially in the Portland area, with its biofuel delivery truck, use of 100% wind power offsets, and FSC-certified woods and sustainable purchasing practices. But what really sets The Joinery apart is the company’s creativity—and not just in its amazing pieces of furniture. As a busy woodshop, The Joinery generates quite a bit of sawdust. This much, in fact:

Seeing an opportunity to save money on garbage pick-ups as well as repurpose something that would otherwise go to the landfill, The Joinery installed a briquette press, allowing them to reduce their sawdust volume by 90% and providing briquettes for employees and neighborhood residents to take home to wood-burning stoves:

 

After the switch, The Joinery went from filling two four-yard dumpsters per week to one one-yard dumpster per week, for an initial savings of $160 a month. And while the overall savings may seem relatively modest in financial terms, the reduction in landfill is tremendous! Visit The Joinery’s woodshop and showroom in SE Portland at 4804 SE Woodstock Blvd. It’s open daily from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Need another reason to shop at The Joinery this holiday season? They’re matching the first $1,250.00 donated to Friends of Trees through the Willamette Week’s Give!Guide.

-Tudor is Development Manager for Friends of Trees.