Ecowood Blog

     In an ever changing world of greenwashing and green products that verge on outright fraud, the ability to repurpose and reuse materials that would otherwise enter the waste stream just seems too simple of a concept to work. Unfortunately, many people view waste as that unwanted collection of stuff that just needs to go away. Many don't know what happens to their waste after they throw it in the trash bin. It just seems to magically disappear, creating a neat and tidy space for them to live in. As a manufacturer of lines of products that are made from waste, I view the waste stream quite differently. For me, waste is a valuable resource that is at the very core of my business. Without it, Ecowood Displays would be just another manufacturer making products that have no place in this fragile eco-system. Check out this great article in Inhabitat about author Alejandro Bahamon's new book, "REMATERIAL, from Waste to Architecture" for another view of waste as a resource.

Presenting to the Executive Director, Jim Dasher were Don & Colette George  (standing in front of our EcoShelving!)

We were very happy to gather with our friends at Conscious Corners in Maryland, and present a donation to one of their chosen charity organizations, Garden Harvest.   

The mission of Garden Harvest is the alleviation of hunger & the improvement of nutrition of economically disadvantaged citizens worldwide.  They accomplish this by the establishment of community farms that teach people, of all ages & any ethnic background, the methods of organic and sustainable production of fruit, vegetables, eggs, & wool. In the near future they will also include milk & cheese.  The goal is for them to learn how to grow food for themselves & for others.  No food is sold and all extra food is donated to local food banks.  They provide the fresh and perishable foods that so many food banks are lacking.

It is the good folks at both of these organizations that make the work we do such a pleasure!

D&C

And the really good news for you?  You now have an open invitation to come and visit us in Sonoma Valley Wine Country whenever you are in the area.  Want to come pick up your orders?  We will have a Will Call department to serve you.

Although this is a new place for Ecowood Displays, our parent company, Plexus Pacific Industries, was started in Sonoma back in 1982. So for us, we have come home and full circle.  We look forward to becoming a good citizen to our, now local, market of retailers and to the community of Sonoma.  

Be sure to let us know when you will be in town.  Cheers for now!

Don & Colette
The Head Ecowoodies

April 22, 1970   Philadelphia, Fairmont Park.  Ground Zero - Earth Day.

 

I was 14 years old.  I told my parents that I was going to a “science fair” that my science teacher was also attending.  That was sort of true.  It was about science, right? And my science teacher was attending.  Just not with me.

 

I arrived at the breakfast table in the tie dyed shirt I had crafted the night before and was promptly told to go upstairs and change into “normal clothes”.  So I did what any self-respecting teenager would do.  Went upstairs, changed my clothes and stuffed the shirt in my homemade hippy bag.  Off I went.

 

Arriving late, we had to park a mile away, so even though we missed The March, we walked some of the route along with other latecomers. We arrived at the park to a sea of people.  Amazing. Estimates ranged from 20 to 40 thousand.  We settled into our tiny piece of lawn and got to know our neighbors.   

People were walking through the crowd handing out bags of “food”.  I opened mine to find a slice of bread and an 1/8 cup of uncooked white rice.  There was a note that stated “if every single person on the planet shared the existing food supply, this is what we would eat each day”. 

 

Senator Edmund Muskie was on stage calling for “an environmental revolution”.   He was criticizing government priorities, which was spending “twenty times as much on Vietnam as we are to fight water pollution…”.  Sound familiar?

 

Up until this point, I had lived in a bubble that was my parent’s world.  This day, I saw the world that I wanted to be a part of - every age, every size, every color, every, everything - all coexisting in cooperation.  We were full of hope and belief that we could make a difference. 

 

Looking back I realize the first Earth Day had nothing to do with climate change.  It was all about the simple idea that we needed to change our attitude toward the land we lived on, the water we drank and the air we breathed - that we needed to show respect for the very basics that we depend on for our own survival and that remains our truth today.

For a little more history of Earth Day click on this, Earth Day History. 

Colette...