Denim Pine

A repost from ReNest - I just found out about Denim Pine .

Hmm, sometimes things cross your path and you wonder if its just a green spin on a regular or alternative product or if it really is an innovative alternative use or product. It can boggle the mind to try to think what are the repercussions, unintended consequences, what have we not thought of that will come back to haunt us if we jump whole heartedly on the band wagon. But as Treehugger says - "Silk Purses from Sow's Ears".

Denim Pine is one of those things for me. It sounds so obvious and cool and makes perfect sense, but is it?

So we have all heard of the Pine Beetle infesting the lodgepole pine in much of Canada and parts of the NW U.S. Its devastating to the lumber industry and I know in Canada they are using much of this infested wood for industrial, throw away uses, road base across sensitive perma-frost in the summer for access to remote logging and mining locations. But now its starting to make an entry into the design world and my first impression is, its really cool, makes perfect sense and could start to be an upside to a rampant infestation that looks to have no solution.

Because of the higher temps, call it Global Warming, Climate Change or just a trend, whatever you believe, the pine beetle is thriving with these mild winters and hot summers of late. The pine beetle brings with it a fungi that infests the wood and ultimately kills the tree. So they harvest the dead tree and utilize the wood - which has no reduction in strength than a non-infested lodgepole pine, once milled and kiln dried the fungi is gone leaving the wood, so they say, free of health risks but leaving the wood with a blueish hue. It is banned in the U.K. because of health risks but I couldn't find anywhere that talked about and health consequences.

Its actually a really cool blue color and after living in a house that is wall to wall, yellow polyurethane wood paneling, I am loving the cooler, blue color, lightens up the wood look. Could it be that we could utilize this already dead resources and thus preserve healthy, strong trees?

You can read more on the facts of Denim Pine HERE. Or get industry feedback HERE.