Each year our national affiliate,
The Corps Network chooses to award a select number of Youth Corps projects at their
annual conference. For 2012, SEEDS will be awarded this honor for our full-circle work with Black Locust.
The black locust tree
(Robinia pseudoacacia) is a heavy, durable hard wood that is also extremely rot resistant. Posts have been known to last 100 years in the ground. This amazing tree is considered an invasive species in Michigan.
With the help of the National Park Service and many park and conservancy professionals, Thomas Hirsch of
Bungalow Builders and dozens of Youth Corps Members, we have been taking these trees and custom milling them for use as boardwalks, decking and fence posts for organic farms - replacing the need to purchase lumber that was kiln-dried, dipped in a toxic chemical bath and shipped from Oregon.
Black locust saves well over 90% of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with comparable treated lumber. During 2011, we distributed 1200 fence poles and laid 49,500 board feet of black locust lumber, saving 18 metric tons of CO2e, equal to the annual emissions of 3.5 cars or 1.6 homes.
That is a Triple Bottom Line win-win-win! Check out the
video link or come to the Wednesday boardwalk ribbon-cutting or contact us for more information.
