Hands on Micro exploitation

 I have not written for a while.  I have been spending more time in my shop building a couple of items.  Building things even if you do it as poorly as I do gives one insight into what goes into an object.  I built a table to go with my smoker.  If I was to simple purchase a table I would not give the materials much thought.  Since I built it I had select materials.  My decisions were based on suitability of the materials, how easy the materials are to work with and as always cost.

For this table I selected 1"X2" cedar for the wood top and basically plumbing fixtures for the base.  In the end it was over engineered and cost more than anything I could have bought.  But, as a hobby it filled a couple weekends and kept me active.  The remaining items were glue, paint, and screws.  I even justified buying a new clamp as well.  Don't anyone tell my wife.

So since I built it I can safely say that I had my hands on every piece of material.  The screws were shiny, the cedar was pleasant to the nose and the black paint was strong and unpleasant.  The intimate nature of building something gives me a strong incentive to understand all the factors that went into it.  The two main materials were the wood (cedar) that the top was made from and steel/iron that the base was made from.  Checking Home Depot's site the base is made from steel.  Probably a good idea to know the details.

I wonder about the wood and were it came from.  From a tree of course.  Where did the tree grow.  After it was cut was it replaced?  How long would it take for the replacement tree to grow to maturity?  After all trees are important to our lives.  Trees produce oxygen for us to breath and their roots hold soil in place to prevent mud slides.  I realize my little wooden table has very little impact on the world but I am not the only one with such a table and probably not even the only one that built one.  How do I assess the impact of my table on the over all world.  I guess if I had to harvest the tree from my own property and then plant and nurture its replacement I would have a better feel for its impact.

I guess that is the toughest issue.  We are so far removed from the way things are created it is impossible to appreciate every exploited resource that has gone into it.  I mean these small micro exploitations. The little pieces that are chipped away little by little.  Maybe we need to get a little closer to the things we want.  Closeness may lead to a little better understanding.