Dec 19, 2008 3:41 pm US/Central
Waste Timber Recycler Doing Well Amid Recession
(WCCO)
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"It's American elm and it's all come from the elm trees in the city of Minneapolis. Most of them right from the zip code that we're in right here, 55406," explained Siewert.
CBS
The story begins at the boulevard. That's where these once graceful trees are felled to the ground, by disaster or development. Walking into Rick Siewert's Minneapolis cabinet making business on Minnehaha Avenue, you are struck instantly with his love of wood.
"It's American elm and it's all come from the elm trees in the city of Minneapolis. Most of them right from the zip code that we're in right here, 55406," explained Siewert.
Siewert is a second-generation cabinet builder who has come up with a new idea. After spending years watching the city's damaged and downed trees hauled off to landfills or chipped into mulch, Siewert decided to saw it up and sell it. He calls his new side business "Wood from the Hood."
"We have either the lumber or we also make flooring out of it. We try to get something more out of the tree," said Siewert.
However, Siewerts' idea doesn't stop there. He decided to give the wood a connection to the community. Each piece of lumber is labeled with the zip code from the neighborhood where it was harvested.
Much of the elm is milled into hardwood flooring. Siewerts' office floor shows off the woods' rich grain. Other trees harvested include oak, ash, maple and walnut. Every species he cuts and mills will be identified by zip code.
"It gives people ownership to the floor," said Rachel Maloney.
She owns and operates the Natural Built Home store. Maloney has been carrying Siewerts' local wood flooring for about the past year, ever since he started the business.
"They (customers) come here and see it and they look at the labeling and they just think that it's the neatest thing--that the tree that could have been cut down in front of their boulevard actually could be in their house," said Maloney.
Siewert says he and his wife Cindy are just naturally green.
"She recycles everything," he said.
They now hope to see the wood they've rescued from landfills become a popular choice in everything from floors to frames.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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