I’ve been trying to figure this out for a bit, and last weekend I cracked the case. Where do the logs and trees the tree trimmers cut down, and the stuff in the green waste recycling bins go? I tooled around Google Maps, searching for dumps and landfills, and found things like this that just didn’t seem to fit the bill. Finally I found this PDF file. It includes 20 pages, most with photos of everything that goes on, with figures on how much of each type of green waste is hauled in per day, and pictures of the each stage of the operations, including resawing and furniture building at the end. Most is turned into mulch for customers. I love the cleaning station, which is an elevated, metal mesh tunnel with a conveyor running through it. Workers stand on each side, plucking trash from the continuous influx, and dropping it through holes to huge dumpsters below them. The yard is surprisingly small, but then, I guess LA isn’t constantly felling trees.
-- Gary, Los Angeles, video game animator
6 comments so far
Durnik150
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536 posts in 216 days
posted 198 days ago
Interesting stuff Gary. What woodworkers need to figure out is how to divert the workable logs to us instead of them ending up as mulch.
I work for a city in Colorado (Aurora) that has a population of 310,000 and a dedicated Forestry division as well. I’m trying to figure out how I should open the conversation with the Forestry representative where I end up claiming all (or at least part of) the maple, oak and walnut that gets taken down.
It may not ever work out but the only way to find out is to ask!
Thanks for the information and the great posts on all sorts of topics.
-- Behind the Bark is a lot of Heartwood----Charles, Centennial, CO
kiwi1969
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601 posts in 336 days
posted 198 days ago
Thats a great setup you have, you should be proud of that. Recycle and reuse is something I try and live by. Over here you just put it in a pile and torch it, or it all goes here to smokey mountain manila. Type it into you tube to see how not to dispose of waste.
-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand
lew
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4486 posts in 650 days
posted 198 days ago
Cool Stuff! I wonder if other cities have similar procedures?
Thanks, Gary!
socalwood
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968 posts in 499 days
posted 198 days ago
Durnik,
The way to divert usable logs is to pay for them. You pay the person cutting them, you pay the person hauling them. That way, you can get pretty much all the “free” wood you want. It’s 6:51 on Sunday morning and we have a load of this type of wood coming in in about 9 minutes. I have dealt endlessly with many different city, county, municipal bureaucrats with absolutely 0 results, other than to waste my precious time. They get paid to be deadwood themselves. Don’t count on them to do anything that makes sense or helps. The way to get logs is to pay the cutters and pay the transportation people directly. Start small and local and network. Things will come your way if you are serious about following this up.
a1Jim
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16776 posts in 472 days
posted 198 days ago
I think Rob has a point instead of free wood it’s more like rescued wood so it might cost a little to rescue it.
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon
TopamaxSurvivor
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3017 posts in 570 days
posted 197 days ago
I’m glad you were able to crack the case. Now, if you can divert some of the waste?
I was thinking of youi Friday PM on the way down to the Tree Farm. There were piles of slash waiting to be burned. Windfalls across roads with just enough cut out to get through. Lots of debris in the stream beds from last winter’s flooding. You could bury that new Toyota in just a few minutes :-))
-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.