Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Hamilton.
Tom, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It is my goal to lead San Diego into a new age of sustainable urban forestry by closing the loop when it comes to what to do with a tree when it has to be cut down. In 2016 I founded a San Diego Nonprofit called Lumbercycle and our mission is to take fallen trees in San Diego, mill them into lumber, and bring that wood back into the community through enrichment programs with partnering nonprofits and community activists. Modeled after the urban forestry program at Palomar College, which cuts logs into lumber and offers that wood to their students for extremely affordable prices, I felt that if urban wood were more accessible and affordable to low income and disadvantaged communities, there would be greater interest to divert more trees from going into a chipper and create positive socio-economic impact.
In the last 6 years, we have sponsored multiple school wood shops, scout projects, dozens of community gardens and parks and more with sustainable and locally sourced lumber. We also sell wood at our National City shop and work with our educational partners like the San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association to teach people how to woodwork and give people the foundation to try their own projects. Going forward we want to work with tree planting programs in the city to create an organic ecosystem to plant trees that can have economic impacts after their lifecycle to create organic incentives for the urban forests circular economy and bring greater impacts to our climate action plan.
I have also been a musician and entertainer at the San Diego Zoo and Safari park, among many other public venues for over 10 years! But that’s a different story!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Funding is the biggest struggle for any nonprofit. It’s a self defeating model to try and create and tangible commodity and practically give it away. Because of that, we’ve adopted a hybrid business model to try and generate revenue that can help pay for our charitable programs. This includes selling wood for private projects. We still work to offer the cheapest urban wood on the market and depend on people with the means to purchase at full price to do so. For people from low income and disadvantaged communities, we have alternative programs to help get them wood for reduced price with volunteer work.
We’ve been impressed with Lumbercycle, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The future of sustainable urban forestry is planting trees that have value at the end of their lifecycle and can continue to sequester carbon as a woody byproduct. Those kinds of products can serve people and furniture or instruments, or serve future growth for other plants as biochar, but will never have that opportunity if we plant inappropriate trees and send them to the landfill when they’re cut down. Lumbercycle is constantly working towards sustainable urban forestry by planting trees with valuable lumber, diverting fallen trees from landfills and getting that wood into as many hands as possible, and educating the public to make positive urban forestry practices.
How do you think about happiness?
I am happy when I can make an impact in my world by creating something out of nothing. That includes my 3 beautiful children that my wife and I created, to the music and art that I am fortunate to be able to create at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, to founding Lumbercycle and creating a community for urban forestry in low income and disadvantaged communities. Happiness is the love that fills all the cracks around my creations.
Pricing:
- Live edge and dimensional lumber between $5-150
- Custom Furniture and Décor – prices vary
- Educational Opportunities during volunteer times or classes as low as $40
Contact Info:
- Email: lumbercycle@gmail.com
- Website: www.Lumbercycle.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lumbercycle/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lumbercycle/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjw6MUe_gNsrgNSpWiA9ZIQ
Image Credits
Tom Hamilton
Natalya Hamilton
