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Web pages and product copy don't even begin to tell the whole story. We invite you to know us better through this Blog. Stone County Ironworks isn't defined by product...thats what we make. We are defined by our people because, that's who we are. We hope to capture some of the things we do every day, the excitement of discovering something new. Take a moment to read our Blog. Post a comment...let us know what you think! And thanks for stopping by!







Sunday, October 10, 2010

Are We Green?

I really hate to even blog about our "greenness" but it's a question that we do get asked. I dislike it mostly because it feels a little like we are jumping in with the latest hype to convince everyone how they should spend their dollars with us...because we care more for the planet. To be honest we never did "go green." There has never been a green-initiative here. How could we go green? We have always recycled our iron, always used recycled iron. We finish our products with non-toxic, non-VOC coatings which are baked hard with Natural Gas, which is an abundant resource right here in the hills of Arkansas. Most of the energy we consume is human energy, and the people who do it love it, and choose to live a simple life here in the hills of the Natural State.

My son brought a little fan to me the other day. Three of the five blades had broken off and he wondered if we might fix it. We threw it away...just like the five others before it. Right into a land fill somewhere. It was made to be disposable, not fixable. Planned obsolescence is real, and it has a huge impact to the environment. I started thinking about the scores of cheap little import fans we have gone through in this country, over the last decade. They just don't last because they just don't make them like they used to.

Well...we do! We make furniture, lighting and home decor...just like they used to! Hand-forged, by hammering steel into shape using a combination of sheer finesse, and brute force.

One of my team members was visiting with a customer in a busy area, and was approached by a woman who recognized the Stone County Ironworks logo on her shirt. This kind lady spoke up and explained that she had been using the same SCI barstools for 20 years, and she loved them. Needless to say, the customer was impressed...although she probably thought it was all brilliantly staged!

The truth is, that woman will never again have to buy a replacement barstool. Never! If it did break we would fix it for her. I remember when we refinished a fire tool set that had been through a house fire once. It looked great, and had much more value to that family than before. Most of the energy required to make that fire tool set, or the kind lady's barstool, was human energy. And most others would have been replaced three times by now.

If everything were built the way we still build things every day at Stone County Ironworks..."green" wouldn't be a marketing concept...It would be a way of life!

Click on the link below for a peek.

Corky Baker

President and Chief Ecologist

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