Integrate – a sustainable wooden bowl

Integrate Limited Edition consists of 5 wooden bowls, made from sustainable wood by carvers at EcoCrafts, the carving department at Samartex, Ghanas first FSC certified wood producer. See how Integrate is made.

Big tree trunks are brought from the surrounding rainforest and plantations to the yard at Samartex. From here the trunks are cut up and sent on to the different production departments at the factory.

FairTrade Designers work with Samartex carving department, called EcoCraft. Here they predominantly use wood leftovers from the factorys main production of plywood and veneer, only 10 % of the wood used at EcoCrafts is allowed to be cut-up wood, the rest must be leftovers from the main production.

Therefor it is not possible to predict what wood spices will be available at a certain time. The Integrate LE for CC14 is made of 3 different types of wood: Mahogany, Asanfena (light) and Entadua (the two colored).

When the wood first arrives at the carving department it must be cut according to the product dimensions.

In our case we prepared a template for the carver to save time.

After this the carving starts. Two carvers work on each their piece, one is very experienced, the other is a junior carver. They work next to each other and discuss their technique, the process and next move.

FairTrade Designers Henriette is on the set and takes part in this reflections and makes changes doing the process.

At the office webcam and skype is used to show and discuss the progress with the two other FairTrade Designers; Pil and Liselotte, who are in Denmark.

When the bowl is carved and all are satisfied with the shape, then the ‘sanding ladies’ take over and gives the bowls a superficial treatment, since we want a raw, handmade look for this collection.

The Integrate LE is part of Danish Crafts Collection: CC14 at the fair Maison & Objet, in Paris the 3. – 7. sept. 2010