Environmental Benefits of Surface Restoration

When you refinish sound fixtures in your kitchen and bathrooms instead of
replacing them, you save money and time, but you also:

Reduce the amount of trees that are cut down for cabinets, thereby conserving
energy and other natural resources. There is also a reduction in the purchase of
new furniture.
Reuse of valuable assets like cabinets and prevent them from going to the land
fills
Recycle through refinishing
Using the three R’s of protecting and preserving the environment as our bench
mark, we can see the refinishing process benefits us by benefiting the
environment.

Reduce

The goal of "Reduction" is to reduce the amount of new goods that we buy and
consume. When you refinish your old bathtub, sink, cabinets or counter tops,
they look almost brand new and there is no need for replacement.

When we refinish cabinets for instance, we decrease the need to cut down new
trees, process and transport them for manufacturing into the beautiful kitchen or
bathroom cabinet. Refinishing cabinets, porcelain or acrylic surfaces reduces
pollution, saves money and time.

Benefits of saving trees by refinishing cabinets instead of replacing them.
Because of our insatiable appetite for new stuff, we need more trees not less, in
order to suck up the carbon monoxide that is produced in the manufacture of the
new stuff that we buy. And because trees don’t grow on steroids, it takes many
years to replenish those trees.

Some trees have such important medicinal values that we need to be careful
about what trees are being felled to cabinets. For instance, the Balm of Gilead’s
resin is useful in healing wounds. It is also good in treating bronchitis.

Scientists say that we are adding tons of carbon dioxide by destroying the trees
and more tons of carbon dioxide by the process we use in cutting down the
trees, process them and then transport them to be finished at a shop as cabinets
or furniture.

Resurfacing furniture reduces the impact of carbon on the environment.
Refinishing furniture compared to buying new one, saves an estimated 124.08
tons of carbon dioxide per property. The carbon foot print for refinishing
furniture is 0.009% that of new furniture manufacturer’s carbon foot print. It takes
1000 times more carbon dioxide to make new furniture than to replace it.

Refinishing conserves energy and reduces pollution. In every industry, it costs
more in energy and resources to extract a virgin product, process it and get it
ready for market than if it were refinished.

It has been known that less energy is needed to manufacture products that are
recovered than virgin materials. Refinishing and reusing existing cabinet pieces
prevents many valuable assets from going into the landfills.

Some trees have such important medicinal values that we need to be careful
about what trees are being felled to cabinets. For instance, the Balm of Gilead’s
resin is useful in healing wounds. It is also good in treating bronchitis.

Reuse

They don’t make cabinets the way they used to do, so even if you bought new
furniture today, it will not be made from solid wood. The lifespan of the new
furniture is still going to be roughly one-third of the amount of wear and tear a
solid wood piece of furniture could be expected to last. Therefore with solid
wood furniture, you can extend the useful life of your old cabinet for as many as
three times their amortized lives.

Additionally with refinishing, you can get another twenty years out of those
sturdy, durable pieces. That’s another twenty years of not being in the landfill.

Recycle

Refinishing Furniture reduces the impact of carbon on the environment. When
you compare refinishing furniture to buying new ones, you save an estimated
124.08 tons carbon dioxide per property. Refinishing furniture's carbon footprint
is .009% of furniture manufacturing's carbon footprint. It takes 1000x more
carbon dioxide to make a new piece of furniture compared to refinishing it.

Across all industries, Recycling and Reusing existing goods requires less
energy than creation of new items from virgin materials. As concerns about
global warming continue to mount, attention is turning again to the so-called
"greenhouse effect" and the gas emissions thought to cause it.

By decreasing the need to extract, process, and transport virgin materials,
recycling helps reduce pollution. It’s been known that less energy is needed to
manufacture products from recovered rather than virgin materials. According to
EPA, “When all the pieces of recycling are put together, the overwhelming
conclusion is that recycling boosts the economy, conserves natural resources,
and reduces solid waste”

With cabinet refinishing, you can match your kitchen décor exactly the way you
want it. You also save money and time and the trees. Finally, according to
Remodeling magazine, you can recoup up to 83% of the cost of your refinishing.

If you are serious about savings the landfills and trees, on your next remodeling
project, fill out our Refinishing Questionnaire form. As soon as we get it, one of
our stars will help you achieve your dream kitchen remodeling with a star
treatment.

Making an environmentally sound decision when buying new fixtures for your
bathroom or kitchen

If you consider your fixtures too worn out to be refinished, you can still make
environmentally sound decisions when buying new fixtures. Here are few
examples:

Bathroom counter tops
If you’re planning to buy a hard-surface plastic bathroom counter top, consider
one made from 100% recycled materials. You’ll prevent about 40 pounds of
plastic from being land filled.

Glass Tiles
Instead of buying ceramic tiles for counter tops, backsplashes, or flooring,
choose 100% recycled glass tiles. For everyone 100 sq. feet of recycled glass
tiles that replace traditional ceramic tiles, 140 kilowatt-hour of manufacturing
energy are conserved. This is roughly the amount of energy that your
refrigerator uses per month.

Kitchen counter tops
If you choose a durable composite, paper stone, terrazzo, stainless steel, or tile
counter top with 50 to 100% recycled content, you’ll reduce the manufacturing
energy and waste associated with producing new materials. However, since few
counter tops are recyclable (with the exception of stainless steel), the best thing
that you can do for the environment is to choose a long lasting counter top that
will survive the average ten-year remodeling itch.

Wood
If you’re building a new home, you’ll save roughly 88 trees, or 3.2 acres of
forest, by choosing recycled wood. Since most recycled wood was originally
derived from old-growth trees, it is of higher quality than standard lumber. As
such, it can be 4 times more energy efficient and will last three to four times as
long.