Capture your memories and preserve them with American Frame.

As the holiday season unfolds, I’ve witnessed my boyfriend taking photos of some wonderful holiday cheer. Dating someone with such a passion and talent for photography, we frame a lot.

Anyone who’s framed a piece of artwork (e.g., mat board and all) knows it can be quite pricey. So my photo–shooting lover and I have taken it upon ourselves to learn to frame our own [er... his] artwork—a green and economical alternative. Basically, you buy all the supplies for the frame—custom–sized mat board, frame, glazing, mounting board, etc.—and then you assemble the components together, and voilà! We took a workshop from the company American Frame and fell in love with its quality, friendliness, ease and greenness. I’ve become a big advocate, and have framed almost a dozen photographs.

After chatting with Laura Jajko, the company’s Vice President, I got the low down on some of the green efforts the company is taking to help reduce its footprint. “As a custom frame manufacturer, we have to consider the impact of everything we make and ship, from where we get our supplies to how we handle the waste we naturally generate on a daily basis. We recognize that the word “quality” is not just about the end product the customer receives but is as much about HOW the result is achieved, which is why our green initiatives are so important to us,” she told me.

Here are some of the neat things I learned about the company's initiatives:

• The main building located in Arrowhead Park, Maumee, Ohio, has a white roof, which reflects rather than absorbs the sun’s heat thus reducing air conditioning costs and increasing energy savings.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• American Frame leases additional warehouse space to house scraps. Once a sufficient amount has accumulated, the scraps are hauled off.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Each month the company recycles 2 tons of metal, 2 tons of acrylic and 2 tons of cardboard/mat board.
  
  
• As big fans of the aluminum section frame, the company takes advantage of its recyclable factor. Not only does it recycle the pieces that are unsuitable for framing, the company even goes so far as to recycle the metal dust, which it siphons off the saws using a vacuum-like tool.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Wood frame moulding in general seems to be a controversial environmental topic for manufacturers. American Frame's product of choice is harvested natural woods from US-based manufacturers that are FSC certified. Ironically, most wood scraps cannot be recycled because of the stains used. However, American Frame has become a big proponent of water-based stains that allow the wood to be recycled.
  
  
• When it comes to mat boards, any discontinued products and usable scraps that are not utilized are donated to local art programs. In fact, American Frame has a free bin in its showroom with usable scraps up for grabs!
  
  
• Skids on which the company’s supplies arrive are chopped up and used for mulch.
  
  
• American Frame has established the BIG DROP BOX (see photo below) in its lobby where employees are encouraged to deposit papers, scraps, etc. from both home and office for recycling.
  
  
  
  
  
• The company partakes in the Ride on Nitrogen Initiative (RONI), giving its employees the option to fill their cars' tires with nitrogen to conserve fuel use and extend tire life.
  
  
• Styrofoam packages have been replaced with corrugated pads so consumers can easily recycle their packing materials.
  
  
  

So there ya have it, folks. If you have any questions about framing your own artwork or any of these initiatives, feel free to drop a comment below, and if I don’t know the answer, I know someone who will :).

By Gawky Green of Two Girls Go Green