Stewardship Green Practices
Your log cabin, timber frame house or log home is created with respect for our earth
Stewardship is not just a buzzword, it’s a way of life for us. As part of a group of companies committed to natural resource stewardship green practices, Honest Abe Log Homes can truly say, “We were green when being green wasn’t cool.”
With us, good stewardship of our natural resources isn’t just a slogan, it’s a way of life.
Our parent company, Green Forest Wood Products, was started in 1970 to supplement the income from a family farm. That family farming operation and all the conservation measures associated with it continues with another generation today on several thousand acres in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Along the way, Honest Abe founder, the late Doug Smith, operated the company under the philosophy,
“If you’re going to make your living in wood products, you must have practices in place to keep renewing those raw materials, and you need to use every part of a log you can.”
That’s not just a good business practice, it’s proper stewardship.
And it’s just a part of Honest Abe Log Homes’ commitment to stewardship, green practices and sustainability measures.
We practice what we preach, and also preach what we practice.
We not only do these things as a part of our everyday business, we encourage homeowners, our sister companies and our suppliers to get involved, too.
Design Manager at Honest Abe Log Homes, Fred Kendall is also a Certified Green Building Professional as recognized by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and leads our Green Building Seminars for customers and builders.
We provide one-on-one consultation throughout the custom home planning and design process. Our customers are encouraged to give direction on the impact that “stewardship” building has on their project.
Excellence in planning, products, manufacturing and efficiency
Honest Abe and its sister companies have long had a practice of using every component of a harvested log or purchased timber. We buy and sell by-products of the milling process to each other, creating an almost zero-percent waste factor.
By-products created through our manufacturing process, like pine sawdust and shavings, are sold to a sister mulch company, Barky Beaver, of Honest Abe Log Homes. This company prepares and packages the materials for use as animal bedding and in soil mixtures.
Eastern White Pine, which is used for Honest Abe’s log homes, is a major species for reforestation, making it a plentiful and renewable resource.
New homeowners can receive a complimentary one-year membership to the Arbor Day Foundation, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.
Along with membership, customers receive 10 free tree seedlings to plant around their new log home. Enrollment is made upon request to allow customers to have seedlings arrive when their home-site is prepared.
Stewardship Conserves America’s Forests
by Jeff Clements, Vice President, Honest Abe Log Homes Honest Abe takes the issue of timber harvesting and the threat of deforestation related to building materials used in the manufacture of log homes very seriously. The great news is, according to the USDA...
