BBE 1002 Blog

  Wood: the Good, the Bad, and the “Neutral” FOREST TO LUMBER:  Everyone has seen a tree before, obviously, but they might not think about all that goes into the growing process of a tree, and how it gets used for so many things. A seedling is planted into fertile soil with lots of water and sunlight and then takes a while to grow into the big trees we see all over. After those trees have matured, people can harvest them into different types of wood products, like furniture or planks for housing. But, it is so much more complicated than that, there are so many steps that people don’t see or know about, shown here:            → (Lesson 13). Of course, you always start out with growing the trees, which is consistent every time, and after that is the more intricate part. In order to harvest the trees, you have three options of harvesting: selection harvest, clear-cutting, or shelter wood harvest (Lesson 13), each of which is just a different method t...

  “Stuff has to come from somewhere, even if it’s biorenewable” FOREST TRENDS: Forests are all over the place, especially in Minnesota, and they are a huge part of our product industry. Unfortunately, it is no secret that the forests are disappearing because of our need for the wood for all sorts of things. There are different types of wood, like pine (which is the most commonly used), oak or maple. They make up our paper, furniture, toys, and even insulate our homes. But if we did not have wood, a lot of the everyday things we need to use, would not be there for us, so #Ispeakforthetrees #savethetrees! In all seriousness, the trees that make up our forests are part of life that needs to be protected because not only does it keep us BREATHING, but it also gives animals a place to live and gives us something to use for our products. AGRICULTURE: Everyone needs to eat food in order to live, yet most people do not even know where it comes from or what goes into making that food. You n...

  “Consumption, Resources, and the Environment: What you need to know” RESOURCES :  When I hear the words “biorenewable resources,” I think of nothing but good things for the planet and it can make our world cleaner than it is now. That is definitely true, but there are other factors that go into it, like is one thing better than another. The mining industry has been an eh topic for a long time on the fact that is it really good for the environment or is there another way to get the things that we need from the ground. One thing to think about for mining is location and of course not every mineral you need will be in an area that you mine, but there are places that are more environmentally friendly than others to get those precious minerals. For example, there is the Polymet mine up in Minnesota by Lake Superior but it is way too close to a national forest and a Great Lake for my comfort. Mining anything can contaminate water and destroy a landscape that will take a long time ...