• Challenge #1: Don’t eat anything that once had a heartbeat. Whatever your take on the ethics of eating animals, a diet featuring meat and poultry has a dramatically bigger environmental footprint than a vegetarian diet. There is ample evidence that reducing meat intake also improves your health. Our goal as a company is to reach 600 meatless meals.
• Challenge #2: Avoid to-go containers. A trash audit conducted earlier in the year (yes, our team shown below did some dumpster diving to determine what exactly we are throwing into the landfill) showed that about 10% of the trash from our Woodstock location was made up of to-go containers for food and coffee. Our goal is to eliminate the use of to-go containers in general and disposable coffee cups in particular, and to help we are providing insulated coffee containers to all participating employees.
• Challenge #3: Daily Exercise for at least 30 minutes has a beneficial impact on mental as well as physical health. And it can also be a lot of fun.

We are kicking the Eco Challenge off with a Vegetarian Luncheon this Thursday, when our four teams will begin battling it out for bragging rights.

We are so proud! The Joinery has been named one of the 2016 100 Best Green Workplaces in Oregon by Oregon Business magazine. The eighth annual green survey was part of the 100 Best Companies and 100 Best Nonprofits surveys conducted last fall and spring. This ranking shows that our workplace has implemented a variety of green policies, and that our employees place a high value on sustainable practices and believe our commitment to them is exceptional.

The Joinery is proud to announce a partnership with Zena Forest Products to source local Oregon White Oak. We strive to utilize lumber from local sources and that which is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council. Through our partnership with Zena, we accomplish both.

Our 4^th annual Scrap Contest is now underway. We challenged our entire team – including design, sales and craftspeople – to develop innovative new products utilizing only scrap wood. After much lumber hoarding and lots of time building and sanding, the pieces are nearly complete. Voting opens on May 13^th and can be conducted online or through an in-store survey.  At the conclusion of the contest we will draw the name of one voter, whose prize will be their choice among any of the Scrap Contest entries.

Below are photos of a few of the pieces being entered this year.