For fear of getting into another endless debate there is a couple of things to remember. First of all I am not in favor of destroying the rain forest, trees that are cut should be replaced, but of course I am sure that can be argued that it is not being done. Trees are a renewable resource, even though it can take a couple of human life times, they can be restored. Plastics on the other hand are petroleum products and as such cannot be replaced. It is also important to remember that the processes of obtaining plastics is through the distillation of petroleum. The process is environmentally hazardous. Another issue in this scenario is what to do with the stuff when we are done with it. It seems to take as long to decompose as it did to make it in the first place, we are looking at geological times.
So what is the solution? Of course the use of domestic woods comes up but, using our domestic woods would be, to someone living in Brazil, looked on the same way we look on tropical hard woods and their use. So really the argument should not be the use of tropical woods but a sane and reasonable management of them, as with all woods every where. Vance Wood. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Stitt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Michael Thames" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 8:11 PM Subject: Re: The ecological sustainable lute & luthier > Thanks for your detailed reply Michael. > > I guess some companies - and I'm sure there are many, which condone woodchipping and other uses on a non sustainable basis, which are the real vandals, and not the humble luthier. Its unfortunate that the market (and therefore $$$) which appears to be the only real regulation for the purchase of rainforest timbers. Perhaps I am wrong but I understand the Amazon still undergoes enormous removal of prime timbers which continue to be illegally logged. > > I do recall a thread on this list discussing alternative materials including plastics ( frightening thought isn't it!) to curb the ever diminishing supply of rare woods. > > Regards, > > Michael. > > > > > Michael Thames <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear Michael, > In this day and age, I think cutting down any tree whether endangered, or > not, is a crime. However, some crimes are more serious than others. This > from a self confessed criminal. > The only thing stopping me from buying up all the Brazilian rosewood I > can is the price, and whats worse than cutting down Brazilian rosewood, is > cutting down Yew wood, the longest living tree on the planet, with the > exception of maybe a couple others. > I don't know how it is in Canada and further north of New Mexico, but > every pine tree here has been killed by the pine beetle, and scientist here > predict it will only get worse and spread further north, as the planet > warms. > I've witnessed this myself and have seen this spread to the higher > elevations were it will affect spruce as well. I can live without Brazilian > rosewood, but simply can do without spruce. I hope this is not happening in > Europe. > Michael Thames > Luthier > www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com > Site design by Natalina Calia-Thames > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Michael Stitt" > To: > Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 8:52 PM > Subject: The ecological sustainable lute & luthier > > > > Dear all, > > > > Just after reading the lute doctor I just wondered what the state of play > is for luthiers these days. Have we come to a point where woods used for > the construction of lutes and historical based instruments are using > ecologically sustainable timbers? By this I mean timbers which have been > grown and distributed based on best practise, sustainable principles. I > believe that my 1971 lute constructed from Brazilian rose wood - the wood > being an endangered timber, and becoming a rarity for instrument > construction. Is this true? Any passionate thoughts about this subject? I > acknowledge it must be quite a dilemma for those luthiers who genuine > ethical regard for the environment. > > > > Regards, > > > > Michael Stitt > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Do you Yahoo!? > > New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing > > -- > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing > --
