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Loading...10 Materials That Could Replace Wood One Day
- Chaya, selected from Networx
- June 28, 2011
- 3:00 pm
- 37 comments
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5. Soy
No, you can’t build walls out of tofu, but soy is another immensely useful plant that is used for insulation, carpet backing, paint strippers and more. While soy fibers may not be a substitute for wood, soy can make traditional wood products safer. Soy-based chemicals can replace the potentially dangerous formaldehyde, glues and other solvents.
6. Cork
Cork is made with bark rather than the core of a tree. That means it re-grows faster and is more sustainable in some ways than many traditional wood products. It is a popular flooring material, and is growing into other areas of construction and remodeling.
7. Cardboard
Cardboard construction isn’t just for kids. A couple of plywood substitutes on the market are made primarily with recycled cardboard.
8. Newspaper
Similarly, recycled newspaper is being used to create fiberboard products for roof decking and much more. For example, Homasote is a New Jersey company that claims to recycle up to 250 tons of newspaper each day into construction materials.
9. Nutshells
Maderon is a recyclable Spanish furniture-building material made primarily of crushed almond, hazelnut and walnut shells. The shells are ground into a paste, then mixed with resin and molded into chairs and other furniture.
10. Straw
Look closely at plywood. The fibers look a lot like straw, so it’s no stretch to imagine particleboard from a variety of straw varieties, including wheat, oat and flax straw. All these are available and useful alternatives to traditional pressed wood products.
Related:
How to Find Sustainable Wood Sources
Building with Hemp
The Wonders of Bamboo
Image: ctechgroup/stock.xchng
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Read more: Conservation, Crafts & Design, Green Home Decor, Home, Household Hints, Materials & Architecture, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse, bamboo, hemp, wood, wood alternatives
Chaya, selected from Networx
Networx.com empowers people to make educated, economical and Earth-friendly renovation and home repair choices. We are a community of homeowners, renters and contractors who are committed to sharing home improvement expertise and experience.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
people are talking
Thanks heaps for the ideas, there's lots of things to try...even if you don't eat them at breakfast …
Thanks for sharing!
So true, although they send out a different tone of meow when trying to locate each other. Aren't w…
John j. why are you even on this site, you obviously have no compassion.
Thanks
37 comments
+ add your ownhi everyone, please sign this petition and help
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Great list! Thanks for sharing!
Noted with interest.
Thank you for the interesting article
noted
Whatevers sustainable.
The only way I'd consider plastic is if it was recycled. Haven't really looked up much about hemp, but it's definitely on the radar now!
It would help more to just cut back on the size of our living spaces. Then when we do build or expand use recycled lumbers. in my town it is against the building codes to use recycled lumber in the framing of any buildings which is a total waist they should be forcing the recycling of all construction materials.
Hmmm . . . several of these products are mixed with some kind of resin. What are these resins made from?
NO to plastic - composite, on its own or otherwise!!!
Fibreboard is highly dubious. It exudes toxic fumes.
May that day come soon.
Save our trees!
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