Green Sahara Furniture parle français
Topic: In the news

Green Sahara Furniture's reputation for unique, handcrafted furnishings is growing.  We were recently featured in a 3-page article in Maisons du Maroc, a high-end Moroccan design magazine.  The article also highlighted the importance of our partnership with the High Atlas Foundation which does tree planting in many Berber villages in Morocco's Atlas mountains.

Also in the news...2M, a Moroccan TV channel, will be featuring GSF's work in their documentary series "Toubkal."  Toubkal highlights travel, the arts, and the environment in Morocco.  This show will be airing a number of times on Moroccan TV during the month of February.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Sahara Furniture gets airborne

Royal Air Maroc distributes about 50,000 inflight magazines on their domestic and international flights to Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.  In their latest issue, woodworking in Morocco was featured in an 8 page article.  Green Sahara Furniture's work was featured as well as the work of our partner which does tree planting in Morocco, the High Atlas Foundation.  Here's the final page below:

future green Saharas?
Topic: Sustainable update

Below are 2 interesting articles about green efforts in the Sahara: 

 

1. BBC audio journey through deserts in Africa, particularly the Sahara.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/07/090714_greeningdesert3.shtml

Ayisha Yahya, a Tanzanian, explores how greater variability in weather patterns because of global warming has actually brought about greening in certain parts of the Sahara Desert and other desert regions.  Admittedly, this is a recent and sporadic phenomenon and it doesn’t sound like Yahya is using it to justify a “status quo/do nothing” view of global warming.  But the 3 x 20 minute travelogue series raises some interesting questions and observations.  What if certain parts of the Sahara became greener because of increased rainfall and aquifer discoveries? How would this change nomadic and desert dwellers’ ways of life and customs?  Should people from overcrowded cities be encouraged to move to distant desert oases and who should get a piece of this newly fertile yet fragile land?  Will more “green Saharas” pop up as a result of satellite discoveries of ancient aquifers in the Sahara?

 

2. New solar panel project for the Sahara Desert and beyond

Desertec, a $560 billion solar panel project for North Africa and the Middle East, will supply green energy to European nations and many host countries.  Some big industry players in Europe which make up Desertec recently signed a memorandum of understanding to seriously explore the construction of these solar plants over the next 3 years.  If this project actually takes off and is managed well, it could have a lot of other benefits including increased job creation and a partial switch from fossil fuel dependence to renewable energy in Morocco and elsewhere in the Maghreb and Middle East.   According to the FAQ section at www.desertec.org , "There won't ever be one huge solar power plant that could be knocked out in one go. Instead, there will be hundreds of solar power plants in a network of renewables, spread over several continents.” 

Article from the UN about Desertec:   http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=1711

Perhaps these new solar power plants could be located in “green Saharas” to create numerous sustainable and off-grid communities that would benefit from the powerful, clean energy of the desert sun.

 

Green Sahara Furniture replants trees
Topic: Sustainable update

Green Sahara Furniture has recently partnered with the High Atlas Foundation to plant trees in the Atlas mountain regions of Morocco.

 GSF is currently partnering with HAF to replant walnut trees and we hope to soon help with olive tree plantings as well.  The Moroccan government (Ministry of Water and Forests) has also been partnering with HAF to replant cedar trees in the Middle Atlas.

 GSF is proud to join a movement already underway to see a "green Sahara" in Azrou, Ifrane, Oukaimeden, Amizmiz and many other towns and villages in the Atlas mountains and beyond.

To learn more about the High Atlas Foundation and the great work they do, go to www.highatlasfoundation.org

Green Sahara Furniture wins US / Morocco Award
Topic: Award

 

On November 29, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency in Casablanca, Green Sahara Furniture received the 2008 Trade and Investment Award from the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Morocco.  This award recognizes new companies in Morocco that trade with the US and also use environmentally and socially responsible business practices.

Green Sahara Furniture would like to thank our employees, colleagues, clients and many others in the US and Morocco that helped make this prestigious award possible.

 

 

 

Introducing: The Azrou Table
Topic: New Product

Green Sahara Furniture is pleased to announce a new product in our lineup: the Azrou Table.  The azrou (meaning "rock" in berber) is the unique part of the table - it comes from the berber regions of Morocco and contains interesting fossils and designs in the stone.  This rock is unique in the world to these remote regions of Morocco.

The azrou pedestal has a chiseled look on the interior contrasted with a more polished look.   The top and base is made from solid Moroccan cedar and is available in natural (pictured), arabic coffee, or desert rouge finish colors.

To see more photos and available sizes, visit the Green Sahara Furniture "unique" page and click on the Azrou Table. 

Recycled cardboard is king
Topic: Sustainable update

Green Sahara Furniture recently sent a container of furniture from Morocco to the US.  We were able to source and use quality, clean recycled cardboard for the outer packaging on 100% of our products in that shipment.  We plan to use recycled cardboard in the future as it is a great way to cut down on packaging waste.  For more info on cardboard (corrugated fiberboard) use and recycling, follow these links:

www.nytimes.com/2007/12/15/business/15interview.html

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/sw/documents/sw-12.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrugated_fiberboard

 

Green Sahara Furniture visits the Moroccan cedar forests
Topic: Sustainable update

 

 

Green Sahara Furniture had the opportunity recently to visit some cedar forests in the Atlas mountain region of Morocco near Ifrane and Azrou.  These magnificent trees provide beauty, shade, homes for monkeys and birds, and employment opportunities for the local population.   

Along with a local sawmill operator and 5 Moroccan government officials from the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts et à la Lutte la Désertification (in English in short we'll call them the Department of Forestry), we had the opportunity to see and learn how cedar forests are managed in Morocco.  Clear cutting is not practiced here, and trees are cut using selective harvesting.     First of all, the Department of Forestry closely monitors all cedar trees cut each year to make sure the forests are managed as well as possible for the future.  Only trees that are dying or dead are allowed to be cut down to be used for lumber.  The Department of Forestry first allocates plots of land with a certain number of trees on each plot that can be purchased by sawmills.  Each dying or dead tree is marked and the cubic meters tallied.  Next, local sawmills purchase one or more of these plots of land and wait until a specific date to harvest the trees.   Once the trees have been felled, a group of inspectors from the Department of Forestry revisit the land to make sure each log is individually marked.  It’s quite interesting to hear the thud of special marking axes hitting the ends of logs all over the forest.  The axes leave a special “GDM” insignia on each log indicating it is cleared to be removed from the forest legally.

 

Any person taking logs from the forest without these markings can be heavily fined to discourage illegal felling of trees.  After each log is marked, the inspectors make sure they have the correct tally from the felled trees.  The sawmill operators are then given the green light to bring the marked logs from the forest to the local sawmill to begin processing them into beautiful Moroccan cedar lumber. Many of Morocco’s cedar forests are full and beautiful.  Still other forests are thin and dying due to many factors including bugs, a lack of rain, sheep grazing on low-lying vegetation, low-branch cutting by shepherds and firewood gatherers, and desertification.  It’s our hope at Green Sahara Furniture to work with other organizations in Morocco to ensure that the Moroccan cedar is enjoyed and used by many future generations – to someday see an abundance of “green” return to the dying parts of the Atlas forests and continue towards the Sahara.  When used responsibly, we believe forests can provide a holistic blend of beauty, solace, shade, shelter, soil control, oxygen production, medicine, income, food, fuel, and lumber.

 

Be sure to check out Green Sahara Furniture’s Atlas collection, a name chosen for this mountainous region of Morocco.  The signature of the Atlas collection is the slab top we use for each piece.  Slab table tops are a great way to show off a unique piece of wood and can be used for a coffee table, a dining table, an island, and many other applications.

 

The natural, wavy sides of slab tops make each piece truly one-of-a-kind.  Plus, when you use a slab top on a project you get the “whole tree”, including parts that are normally cut off and discarded – knots, holes, and cracks are all part of the character of the piece, giving it a story of its own.  Please contact Green Sahara Furniture if you are interested in having a custom Atlas table made.  We can work with you to ensure the size, color, and character of the top is what you’re looking for.

 

Green Sahara Furniture puts a cork in it!
Topic: Sustainable update
Cork is an amazing product – it’s green and sustainable.  Cork is harvested from the base of cork oak trees and it has great insulation and noise reduction qualities.  It’s also a renewable resource as it’s peeled from the tree in a way that protects it and allows a new cork layer to begin to grow.   Green Sahara Furniture recently added Moroccan cork panels to the walls in our production facility in Casablanca to help reduce the noise generated from our woodworking machines.  As much of Morocco is mixed residential and commercial buildings built almost entirely with concrete, noise is a problem all over Morocco – for neighbors and for workers.  At Green Sahara Furniture, we’re trying to do our part by being a good neighbor and employer by keeping our “noise pollution” to a minimum – making it a better place for people to live and work together. We’re also checking out the availability of locally-grown cork to use in future Green Sahara Furniture designs. If you want to check out more info about cork, follow this link to Wikipedia:  http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_oak

Topic: Our Partners
Green Sahara Furniture would like to thank Heather Olivier, the founder of Olivier Company, for her outstanding photography. Heather's company produced all of the photographs for the Green Sahara Furniture website, as well as many of the promotional materials.