Now what kind of a suggestion is that?!? A good one, trust me. It all comes down to global warming and reducing greenhouse gases.
Some background first: When a tree grows, carbon dioxide is processed in the good-old elementary school photosynthesis and stored in the wood as Carbon (while releasing yummy oxygen as a by-product). As long as the wood is not destroyed by biodeterioration (i.e. rotting) or burned, carbon dioxide is not released. As a result, over its lifetime (which can be very long for buildings), wood acts as a natural carbon dioxide storage. While emissions trading might be the latest rage, using wood is a better way to reduce greenhouse gases. The more is actually the merrier here.
The following table, which was just released by the German wood council, shows this very nicely, I think. One caveat: I don’t think, coffins are “made to last”…
| Wood [kg] | Stored C [kg] | Stored CO2 [kg] | |
| Crib | 40 | 20 | 72 |
| Sandbox | 60 | 30 | 108 |
| Door | 10 | 5 | 28 |
| Desk | 45 | 23 | 83 |
| Single-Family House (200 m2) | 20.000 | 10.000 | 35.990 |
| Furniture for a 3-BR Dwelling | 1.400 | 700 | 2.519 |
| Flooring (25 m2) | 125 | 63 | 227 |
| Fence (20 m) | 150 | 75 | 270 |
| Patio Table | 25 | 13 | 47 |
| Oak coffin | 80 | 40 | 144 |
Source: Holzabsatzfonds, infoholz.de
P.S.: 1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds
P.P.S.: Of, course, don’t put gaseous carbon dioxide into a crib. But you knew that already…