How CCA-treated poles are sustainable for the environment
How can you make a difference in the environment around you? The environmental problems we face nowadays are hugely challenging and can seemingly dwarf any ideas that you may have to try and be part of the solution to help sustain what we have.
But the real truth of the situation is that any action you take in the direction towards creating a sustainable environment around you is a step worth counting.
This is why we are happy when people ask us about CCA-treated poles and their uses. Whether it be for a jungle gym in the yard, timber rolls for packway seating outdoors, raised garden beds, guard rail posts on a road, transmission poles, poles for massive netting projects used in agriculture, or for the use of building … they all mean that a person is taking a step to use a product that is less harmful and long-lasting that will not harm the environment around it.
Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) has a long history as a wood preservative for many applications such as those mentioned above. Independent studies have shown that CCA is an environmentally safe wood preservative and has very minimal leaching.
Dr Kenneth Brooks wrote in ‘Pressure Treated Wooden Utility Poles and Our Environment’ that
“pressure treated wood utility poles pose no greater risk to the environment than growing the wheat used to bake your next loaf of bread, and present far less personal risk than driving to your local grocery store to purchase that bread.”
So how does this translate to being sustainable for the environment? Let us take a look at the reasoning.
Less Energy & Resource Use
Treated wood posts require less total energy and less fossil fuel to produce, and during their life cycle, than galvanized steel posts.
Lower Environmental Impacts
In treated wood highway guard rail posts, for example, there are lower environmental impacts than galvanized steel highway guard rail posts in five of six impact indicator categories assessed: anthropogenic greenhouse gas, total greenhouse gas, acid rain, ecotoxicity, and smog-causing emissions.
Offsets Fossil Fuel Use
Reuse of treated wood posts for energy recovery will offset the use of fossil fuel energy and thereby reduce greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
CCA-treated wood is used as a critical part of our nation’s infrastructure and economy. It is safe for the environment and has a long history of EPA approval for both the environment and human exposure. The alternatives (steel and concrete) are not renewable and require more energy to produce than CCA-treated wood. Last but not least, CCA-treated wood is more cost-effective than the alternatives. CCA-treated wood is good for the environment and the economy.
If you are looking to obtain CCA-treated timber poles for your next project, whether it be big or small, get in touch with us to supply you with a sustainable option for your environment. Contact us on www.primepoles.co.za/contact.
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