Send us your green ideas Each month Michigan Retailer will feature one idea that shows retailers being environmentally responsible. Call MRA's Laura Adkins at 800.366.3699 or e-mail mra@retailers.com to submit your ideas.

Green wood is good

One of the mantras of the green movement is “reduce, reuse, recycle.” The idea is that reusing materials is even more environmentally friendly than recycling, which consumes energy in processing. At The Woodworkers Shoppe in Comins—which makes and sells log siding, knotty pine paneling and log home products—business manager Gary Gee has found numerous ways to reuse scrap wood.

The shop’s large volume of wood scraps finds many homes. Some are donated to the local 4-H Club or to the Kirtland Warblers Audubon Society, where they get put to good use.

Local farmers come get the woodchips and wood shavings as bedding for animals. And Gee has found that there’s a good market for his sawdust, which is resold by the semi-truckload to firms that use it for making particle board, pellets for woodstoves and other products.

Current GreenTailers: contact MRA if you would like to use the GreenTailer logo in your marketing materials or on your website.