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Below are a few terms to help you navigate our messaging:
Eco-pragmatism
Environmental or eco-pragmatism is a relatively new direction in modern
philosophy. It is defined as people making sensible environmental decisions
in an uncertain world --while creating a better path for economic and
environmental prosperity. Because environmental pragmatists are not wedded
to any particular theoretical framework from which to evaluate specific
problems, eco-pragmatists can choose the avenue which best protects the
long-term health and stability of the environment, regardless of its
theoretical origin.
BioLumber
BioLumber is a sustainable building materials company. Its first product is
a structural strength recycled building material.
Structural Strength/Structural grade plastic lumber (SPGL)
Structural grade plastic lumber (SGPL) is defined by a working group of the
American Society for Testing Material (ASTM) as a recycled product that
exceeds a stress of 2,000 psi at a strain of 1 percent. The BioLumber®
product exceeds that baseline, and has been tested to be the strongest of
all competitors in this field. BioLumber® has properties considered
essential by construction and engineering industries in their
specifications. It meets the existing demand for sustainable building
materials in large-scale projects and can be used in various settings.
Cradle to Cradle (C2C)
Cradle-Crade (C2C) is an ecologically friendly approach to design.
It is a
sustainable model considerate to life in general. In the context of a
building
material, C2C means the use of recycled raw material, which,
following use, can
again be
recycled. (The phrase "Cradle to Cradle" itself was coined by Walter R.
Stahel in the 1970's, and the current C2C model today is based on a system
of "lifecycle development" initiated by Michael Braungart and colleagues at
the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency)
Extrusion
The BioLumber® product is manufactured using a screw extrusion process
common in the plastics industry. Extrusion, a process originally patented in
the late 1700s to create metal pipes, creates objects of a fixed profile. A
feed screw pushes material through a die representing the desired profile,
for example a board. In the case of plastic lumber, polymers and additives
are heated to a molten state. The screw forces the mixture through the die,
forming it into the desired shape and size. The product is then cooled and
solidified.
Composite vs. Plastic Lumber
Wood composite materials are generally made from mix of plastics and wood
byproduct such as sawdust and wood waste. A separate class of plastic
lumber is engineered entirely from plastics and other materials. BioLumber
is similar to wood composite material in that each seeks to meet the growing
demand for sustainable products to replace conventional wood lumber.
However, BioLumber does not include wooda key difference that puts it in a
different category and allows it to offer a structural strength that is not
found in wood composites.
DID YOU KNOW?
Recycling one ton of plastic:
Saves 5,774 kWh energy
Saves 16.3 barrels (685 gallons) of oil
Saves 98 million Btu's of energy
Saves 30 cubic yards of landfill space
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