A very sunny and productive Friday!

Friday was a great day at the sawmill. Everyone was busy, and the sun was out as an added bonus. We wish the warm weather lasted a few days longer. Here are some wonderful pictures we wanted to share!

Trucker off-loading more "Sandy Logs"

John working on the power unit

Glen preparing some tools for the day

John instructing one of our key men

Lloyd and Bruce laying out base for the conveyor 

Beautifully unique urban logs

Willem working on the metal detector system

Sawing large diameter logs on the Mighty Might

Survived Snow Storm Nemo!

We are very happy that snow storm Nemo has passed- even though we got hit with quite a bit of snow, this is considered nothing compared to folks further north who got over 2'! As you know, we love pictures of our logs covered in snow- they look so beautiful, so here is another one to check out! Some CitiLog workers put in a few hours on Saturday in order to clear the paths of snow so log trucks can still access our sawmill to drop off logs.

Good thing most of our machinery, such as the main saw, is protected by our hoop structure so we are still able to saw. This great picture was taken by Bryce, CitiLog Employee. An upcycled tree sawn into industrial board- fresh off of the saw!

"Advice From A Tree"

An image we love! Everyone should take this great "Advice From A Tree".

CitiLog Article in The Hunterdon County Democrat

Thank you Rick Epstein and The Hunterdon County Democrat for a great article! It is great to have people sharing in our vision and helping spread the word.

Read it here

A Visit from Prudential

Today, we were lucky enough to have Cindy Hu from Prudential visit the Newark sawmill and see the saw running! This is a very exciting and pivotal event in CitiLog's journey of upcycling urban logs.

Cindy Hu, Manager of Social Investments for Prudential, entering the saw cab to watch the saw run!

Offloading the sawn logs

More logs loaded on the feed deck to be sawn

Citilog Newark's Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!

CitiLog Newark Site

CitiLog President Maria Warmbold & Founder Stubby Warmbold

Employee Donald Speaking About His Experience At CitiLog 

CitiLog Newark Upcycled Rotted Logs into Planters!

Home Grown CitiLog Cupcakes and Upcycled Cake Stands!

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark & The Warmbold Family

The Entire CitiLog Team!

Yesterday, Citilog Newark held our ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of our zero waste sawmill facility in Newark, NJ. Citilog was joined by over 215 guests who experienced the site first hand.
At Citilog Newark, no material goes to waste. Urban wood that cannot be used for finished products will be used in the production of generating our own heat and energy. Citilog is setting a new standard for the transformational role local businesses can play in economic development, green job creation, and sustainability.
Guest speakers included Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, and Mayor Robert Bowser of East Orange. The importance of Citilog's sustainable actions and commitment to community development was shared by all. Citilog employees also spoke about their personal experiences at the new Sawmill.
Be sure to check out our article from Newark Patch and WBGO !

Arbor Day at CitiLog Newark

CitiLog's Stubby Warmbold & John Sowell Being Filmed By Our Documentary Makers

CitiLog Team Members!

Logs at the Newark Facility

Arbor Day, April 27th is a special day for CitiLog Newark! Originating in Nebraska City, Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton. Arbor Day is a holiday in which people are encouraged to plant and care for trees. At CitiLog we are doing our part by “giving new life” to trees that are no longer wanted due to removal for new construction, or have proven dangerous because of the overgrown size and neglect. We are blessed to be able to take these trees and upcycle them. Upcycling is taking something that is considered waste and turning it into something of greater use or value. CitiLog takes these trees and manufactures them into finished wooden products. Whether it be industrial such as trailer decking or pallet components, or finished wooden log benches; CitiLog can meet any of your individual needs. For CitiLog, it is important to show good stewardship to the land as it is a sin to waste this natural resource. After all, if it wasn’t for Mother Nature, we wouldn’t be here today! Our site has been open for nearly 9 months. Here some photos of our current progress.

Benches for the Brayton School

Completed Brayton School Benches

CitiLog Team Member Applying a Tung Oil Finish Onto The New Benches!

We are pleased to announce the completion of CitiLog’s first value added special project. CitiLog manufactured 11 log seating benches for The Brayton School in Summit, New Jersey. The trees had come down on their site during the summer of 2011. Instead of having them turned into firewood, mulch or dumped into a landfill, The Brayton School took a sustainable approach and had the logs upcycled into benches for the student body. All of the bark was removed by hand, sanded smooth, and finished with three layers of tung oil. This oil is an all-natural product and is non-toxic. The Brayton School is located only 12 miles from our Newark facility.

Spring is Springing

Black Locust via

The early signs of spring are upon us, and we are beginning to smell the sweet fragrance of budding blossoms. If you hail from Pennsylvania down to Alabama, then it may be one budding blossom tree in particular the Robinia Pseudoacacia or more commonly know as, black locust.

The black locust is a tree that has been in our history since the beginning. As part of the Fabaceae family, it is native to the southeastern United States but grows everywhere from Pennsylvania to Alabama to Wisconsin. It favors the Appalachain chain region as well as the Ozark Plateau for the humid climate and the sandy, loamy, well-drained soils in open sunny locations. The tree itself reaches heights of anywhere from 30 to 80 feet with a diameter of about 3 to 4 feet. A young black locust has a more green bark while the older locusts have a dark, deep, and shaggy bark.

The black locust wood is extremely durable and rot-resistant, two reasons that generation after generation have utilized this special wood. Originally the black locust wood was used to make fence posts and wagon wheels. Farmers began planting small groves of the black locust trees on their farms so as to utilize the wood in the coming years. Black Locust trees grow at a rate of a quarter inch per year, so it was not long before the farmers could be using their trees.

Here at Black Locust Lumber and Citilog we use this 17th century business model in our day to day work. We find that by incorporating our natural resources and power into todays world it helps to keep with the ways of our ancestors and to keep this planet healthy and alive. You may ask yourself how do we do this at a small lumber company in New Jersey of all places? Well we use real horse power (Buck and Bill) to remove the logs from the sites and use a system called upcycling with your trees. Upcycling entails that we take your wood that would have been tossed and turned it into a finished product. We try and use as much as possible so not to create waste. Where as our ancestors were using black locust wood to create fence posts, wagon wheels, and railroad ties, we have now expanded to using it for everything from decking, seating, siding, trellises to speciality projects like garden applications and sun baffles.

That is just a brief little synopsis on the black locust wood. With Spring in the air things around the office are really starting to pick up. It is proving to be an exciting new year!

So get out there and enjoy the earths rebirth, renewal, and regrowth that is Spring. Keep your eyes open for a black locust tree, you never know where you might find one!

Introducing CitiLog Newark

So what happens to those trees that come down in cities due to storms, construction or hazard?

We've got a solution that takes this tree "waste" and turns it into valuable product locally! After years of hard work the horizon is here and we're looking to manufacture wood products, produce renewable energy, provide permanent green collar jobs, including job training for disadvantaged youth and we're local to boot!

We're going to be collecting downed trees in the area from tree services, municipalities, utilities, Recycle America and construction and demolition jobs. We'll divert this raw material from the waste stream by hauling it to our Newark Urban Sawmill and turn that waste into finished product. These products will include commercial wood products, industrial wood products, heat and power and of course our one of a kind upcycling standard where we take your downed trees and turn them into a custom finished product. (www.citilogs.com) Our products include everything from flooring, molding, cabinetry, and custom furniture to your pallet parts, railroad ties, and tree stakes.

There are excellent social and environmental benefits to this endeavor. Socially, the Sawmill

will employ 56 men and women to stimulate local employment. A huge effort will be put into the job training for disadvantaged youth as we set out to equip young men and women in prisoner re-entry programs. This training will provide them with OSHA work safety skills, knowledge of chainsaw and mill equipment, as well as forklift and finger-jointery operating skills. The long term goal is to make our youth more marketable with their acquired skills for multiple jobs in related fields. The program will also supply each participant with a documented work history including evaluations and an opportunity to continue employment with CitiLog.

Environmentally, all material will come from the waste stream. We will not intentionally take trees down to maintain feedstock. By using these trees as product we are diverting them from contributing to the already overfilling landfills. Carbon is sequestered in all of our products by elongating the life of the tree. We strive to achieve carbon neutrality on site as we produce sustainable energy with a fiber-fueled CHP system. The site is set out to achieve LEED Platinum.

We're excited to get this ball rolling as there is a long road ahead of us! Stay tuned for updates!

Carbon Sequestration

Take a moment and take a deep breath. The quality of the very oxygen we breathe is dependent on the environments that surround us no matter where you are in the world. When it is in danger or threatened by an outside factor we must respond and make a change. This is all we hear environmentalists speak of today. Our governments have even decided to take action on the issue Reuters Article-Where Should the Feds Draw the Line on Green Marketing Claims?. The dreaded word- CARBON. Whether you believe we created the rise in carbon or not- we must take responsibility for our actions. What if we as a responsible society, instead of cowering at the threat of carbon take initiative to capture it, put it to use, educate one another with it and even enjoy it? Our trees can offer this.

Did you know trees are composed of nearly 50% carbon? Through the process of photosynthesis the trees that surround us remove carbon and use it as food. When the trees are diseased, dead and dying or our growth intersects their paths the trees fate can ultimately contribute to carbon emissions. As mentioned in our introductory article, instead of burning or chipping these trees up into small pieces for mulch or waste and releasing carbon into the atmosphere we can literally lock up the carbon. An alternative option for throwing the logs into already overflowing landfills we look to detain the carbon by turning this "waste" into tactile product. Citilog is sequestering the carbon in a progressive way.

Lets say a tree lives and provides oxygen for 100 years. When the tree nears the end of its life the wood is still good. Citilog takes the wood and upcycles it locking the carbon into tables, chairs, flooring, siding, timber frames, benches or bowls for hundreds of years. The tree can be returned to its original site, or taken to new site for use, education and enjoyment for all.

The Avalon Barn: a perfect illustration of carbon sequestration by Citilog. The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is an insect that feeds on the Hemlocks in the Northern Atlantic region. It took the life of a handful of Hemlocks on the property Avalon Parks & Preserve. Without turning the trees into waste the park upcycled the dead and dying trees for multiple uses in the same project. The Hemlock provided the heavy timber framing which will last for 200 years or more as is. Once the timber frames serve their purpose they can be re-sawn into floor boards, furniture, etc. obtaining hundreds years more of use. If you really want to contribute to full circle recycling the products could then be ground up into mulch or saw dust depending on size and returned to the soil to begin the cycle all over again. This cycle is what William McDonough refers to in his catch phrase and book "Cradle to Cradle". Aside from heavy timber, the hemlock also supplied gorgeous flooring and siding for the project.

Trees are a critical resource that we must recognize as an opportunity. These trees can not only survive one life cycle, but in fact sustain multiple efforts in repurposing. The trees are in your hands, choose wisely.

Trees: Detriment or Value?

Trees provide shade, oxygen, and are aesthetically appealing. It is a shame when our need for expansion aligns head on with the trees on our property, or when trees disrupt our built environments. We cannot stop our growth, so the trees must go. Instead of ripping out the trees and grinding them up into mulch, or throwing them into the already over-flowing landfills there is a light at the end of the tunnel. What if Citilog took these trees from our sites and upcycled them into beautiful finished wood products? Trees can be transformed into useful casework, flooring, furniture, fencing and outdoor structures for years to come. We have the opportunity to memorialize the trees we love and enjoy, but need to remove. Why not repurpose them, giving them value that can educate and be appreciated by generations to come? And at the same time sequestering the carbon in a local environment... imagine that.