Iowa woman gets creative to help solve lumber shortage
A nurse turned sawmill owner is spearheading a new sustainability effort in Iowa. Becky Button is lifting the industry up in Iowa at the Earlham Mill. She's making sure more people can get the lumber they need amid the shortage.Authorities are investigating after the body of a woman was found at an abandoned Denny's restaurant off Patton Avenue.
By Tommie Clark
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EARLHAM, Iowa (KCCI) — A nurse turned sawmill owner is spearheading a new sustainability effort in Iowa.
Becky Button is lifting the industry up in Iowa at the Earlham Mill. She’s making sure more people can get the lumber they need amid the shortage.
Button makes the most of trees that have to be removed due to death or development. Her mill is partnering with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Habitat for Humanity.
They’re creating urban lumber; wood cut out of trees that were grown within city limits.
She’s making sure the wood doesn’t go to waste, by milling it into lumber rather than chipping it into mulch or chopping it up for use as firewood. Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores then sell the urban lumber.
“Knowing that other people are kind of following the lead kind of makes me feel good and as a woman, there aren’t many woman sawyers, it makes me feel good that I can lead by example,” Button said.
You can find the wood at ReStores in the Des Moines metro. The urban lumber is not for structural use, but it is for making furniture, flooring or anything else you can think up.
A purchase supports the environment and helps Habitat for Humanity’s mission of helping build homes, communities and hope.
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