The partners form their countertops in a cold casting process that uses otherwise non-recyclable materials like tempered and laminated glass. Brubaker and McPherson currently offer only custom countertops, but are developing a process to create larger slabs to distribute to stone countertop suppliers as an alternative to granite or marble. While building homes of straw bales is catching on, US manufacturers are also using this agricultural by-product to make building panels and composite board. Europeans and Canadians have made and used rigid straw panels for over 40 years. Exterior panels are eight inches thick and carry an R-28 rating.
Buyers then finish the interior and exterior with materials of their choice.
The company makes panels for cabinets, among other uses, in a variety of shapes and densities from lightweight corkboard-like material to heavier construction grade materials. Until recently pallet users and suppliers have considered them disposable after one trip, but are now partnering to set up pallet retrieval systems and pallet pools to reuse them. Besides repairing and selling used pallets, Big City Forest, Inc. uses pallet wood to build butcher block-style furniture, hardwood flooring, architectural woodwork, planters, and plaques. Because pallets come from more than 100 different tree species, a Big City Forest conference table may feature oak, pine, mahogany, cherry, poplar, or birch. Destroyed forests in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sawawak have supplied wood primarily to Japan.