Written By Allison Bennett

When you walk into a NeedCo, Inc. showroom, chances are you don’t immediately think “green.” As a matter of fact, when I walked in, I was blown away by how spectacular cabinets could look. I have never personally had the opportunity to select custom cabinets, so it was obvious that I was in awe of the styles and designs offered for basically every room in your home. And get this, they’re green!

 

With showrooms in Homewood, Greystone, and Bessemer, as well as throughout the Southeast, NeedCo offers great service, custom design, and most importantly, an eco-friendly cabinet choice.

 

Chrissy Bushnell, NeedCo’s General Manager, gave me the scoop on Wellborn Cabinet, their premier manufacturer based in Ashland, Alabama. “When customers come in our showroom, they want to see and feel the cabinets, and many of them want a cabinet that is green.” For those of you just jumping on the green bandwagon, you may be wondering how that works, but Wellborn Cabinet is making it happen.

 

Wellborn is a one-stop shop when it comes to cabinet production. The natural wood goes in on one end of the plant and a cabinet comes out of the other, eliminating the need for the cabinets to be shipped here and there for completion. Wellborn has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to the environment and the health of its customers by making sustainability in manufacturing, management, and resources a priority. 

Just to give you an idea of what Wellborn is doing, check out some of the facts about their processs:                                                                                                                                          

       Wellborn utilizes steam from a wood-fired Co-Generation Plant, which saves as much as 300,773 (MCF) thousand cubic feet of natural gas - a nonrenewable resource                                           

O    Over 40,000 tons of wood shavings are converted into fuel, eliminating the need for landfill waste

·      Boiler air emissions are 50 percent lower than required by state and Environmental Protection Agency regulations

·      343,000 pounds of cardboard are collected and recycled annually

·      All spent solvents are collected and recycled through a blending process offsite

·      Cabinet finishes are continually modified to reduce their impact on the environment and customers

 

We all know the grim news about the housing market, and many folks right here in Birmingham are deciding to remodel, rather than purchase another home. A great way to remodel not just for a new look, but to create a greener home, is to incorporate cabinets, custom designed with the environment in mind.

 

Wellborn’s “green” cabinets are exclusively sold at NeedCo, so check them out at one of their three Birmingham-area showroom locations. Click on our Green Guide link for contact info.

 

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