Everything is Coming Up "Green" at the 2008 Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Shows

“What could be greener than buying something once to enjoy for the rest of your life?” That fortuitous comment was made recently by Brooklyn, Wisconsin based furniture maker David Redwine, who will be exhibiting at the Third Annual Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Show – Milwaukee. The sentiment expressed is shared by many of the show’s exhibitors. All the furniture, accessories, fine art and crafts offered at the Milwaukee as well as the thirteenth annual Providence show are designed and hand made to withstand the test of time. A few more examples of particularly green products follow.

“We are totally green,” says Woodworker David Stine of Dow, Illinois who will show & sell his work at both shows this Fall. David harvests his logs from his own sustainably managed forest or from local arborists who would otherwise haul them to the landfill. He spreads the byproduct sawdust and shavings on local fields for added organic matter and he heats his home, shop and hot water with waste wood, shavings, and bark from shop activities. Finally, he runs his delivery truck, shop tractor, and personal vehicle on waste vegetable oil that is recycled from local restaurants.

Sherri Lindsay of Pittsburg, Kansas couldn't create her eggshell mosaic jewelry without recycled chicken eggshells. She says, “I'm often asked by concerned customers whether the shells are indeed recycled, and I'm happy to say ‘Absolutely!’” From her early days experimenting with eggshell mosaic, she has taken pride in the fact that the shells are leftovers being kept from a landfill. Though she scoured cookbooks and websites for recipes requiring eight eggs or more, she remained more artist than cook at heart while her husband endured more than his share of frittatas and lemon bars. However, her cats seemed happy to help out by occasionally eating her scrambled eggs. As her interest in the art form grew, she shared her new venture with family, friends and neighbors, who generously contributed their own leftover shells. Though she now has quite a cache, nine years later, it still puts a smile on her face to come home and find a carton full of leftover eggshells on her porch.

Paul Morrison, of the Wood Cycle in Oregon, Wisconsin says, “We’re about as green as it gets.” Besides working in renewable material that is durable enough in design and construction to last for generations, they serve the southern Wisconsin market with products grown from locally grown hardwoods, over half from urban timber (people's back yards, even the Wisconsin State Capital Lawn). They saw the logs, dry the lumber in a solar kiln, and then custom design products that best suit the individual customers and their lumber. Sawdust goes to animal bedding, bark to mulch the yard and scrap wood to heat the shop and home. All of this takes place on a restored farmstead. They recently moved their primary barn, which houses the shop and showroom, across the fields from a development site to give it a new life in the country. It has since been renovated into a totally green furniture making shop.

Learn more about these artisans and MANY more at www.FineFurnishingsShows.com.

Mark your calendars today. Spread the word. Come meet these talented artists, see their work, & buy direct.

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Issue: August 2008