TRESS are amazing! They provide beauty, shade, oxygen, clean air and water, fruit, nuts and wood products such as paper, furniture and housing. These benefits are well known. But did you know that literally thousands of products are made from trees? Many are surprising! From the medicine L-Dopa for treating Parkinson's Disease, to film in your camera, forest products are all around us.
WHEN TREES ARE USED to make lumber and plywood, there are leftover chips, bark sawdust. The chips and sawdust are made into wood pulp for paper and other products. Not too long ago, those leftovers would have been burned as waste. Bark is used for landscaping, and to generate electricity for paper and lumber mills. Modern forest products operations are very efficient at using every part of a tree. Nothing is wasted.
WOOD is made of tiny fibers (cellulose) and the natural glue that holds them together (lignin). When wood is turned into pulp for paper, heat and chemicals dissolve the lignin and release the cellulose fibers. Byproducts of this process are used in asphalt, paint, chewing gum, detergents and turpentine.
CELLULOSE is used for paper and much, much more. It is a principle part of melamine dinnerware, toilet seats, tool handles and cellophane. It is also used to produce helmets, toothbrushes and electrical outlets. Other refined cellulose products include rayon fabric, and nitrocellulose which is used to make nail polish, solid rocket fuel and industrial explosives.
WOOD PULPING BY_PRODUCTS are used for many different things, ranging from cleaning compounds, deodorants and hair spray, to artificial vanilla flavoring, medicines and cosmetics. Torula yeast, produced from wood sugars separated in the pulping process, is a high-protein product used in baby foods, cereals, imitation bacon, pet foods and baked goods.
SILVOCHEMICALS (chemicals from trees) are so much a part of our civilization that we take them for granted. But they wouldn't exist without wood and wood products. Trees are truly a miracle resource!
Below are just a few of the thousands of products we get from trees.
dye
oxygen
piano keys
rayon - books
fishing floats - inks
telephone books
varnish - atlases and maps
price tags - ping pong balls
tires - umbrella handles -signs
automobile instrument panels
space craft reentry shields - newspaper
photographic film - newspapers - posters
football helmets - toilet seats - guitars
road building materials – insulation
shatterproof glass - artificial vanilla flavoring
cork - vacuum cleaner bags - movies - stadium seats
adhesives - decorations - turpentine - camphor - waxes
fireworks - crayons - tannin - charcoal - pine oil - pitch
musical instruments - perches for birds of prey - toilet paper
milk cartons - flooring - bark for landscaping - cardboard
grocery bags - furniture - chewing gum - paper towels
oil spill control agents - Christmas trees - hockey sticks
wildlife habitat - cosmetics - roofs - baby foods - cider - vitamins
cooking utensils - photographic film - lacquer - pallets - rubber gloves
mulch - clean water - golf tees - egg cartons - nail polish - fence posts - toys
toothpaste - eyeglass frames - syrup - antacids - shampoo - rubber gloves
menthol - electrical outlets - medicines - energy for electricity - plates and bowls
sausage casings - torula yeast - rulers - wooden blocks - houses - notebook paper - oars
plywood - paper plates - computer casings - stain remover - coffee filters - toothpicks
movie tickets - carpet and upholstery backsides - imitation bacon - diapers - horse corrals
postcards - tax forms - sponges - shade - particle board - shoe polish - luggage - bowling
postage stamps - colognes - animal bedding - irrigation piping - fruit pie filling - golf balls -
suspending agent for drinking soda - pencils - dry wall - baby cribs - baseball bats -
magazines -ice cream thickener - step ladders - birthday cards - broom sticks - cider -
crutches - backyard play sets - axe handle - food labels - 2 x 4's - candy wrappers
scenery - party invitations - disinfectants - cd inserts - gummed tape - fruit
railroad ties - shelter belts - puzzles - swings - baking cups
buttons - cutting boards
benches - bird houses
stereo speakers
garden stakes
stairways - beds
tables - barrels
window frames
bulletin boards
linoleum - seesaws
fishing boats - billboards
disposable medical clothing
church pews - totem poles - desks
How many other tree products can you list?
0 comments:
Post a Comment