{"id":42322,"date":"2015-12-07T09:50:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T14:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=42322"},"modified":"2016-03-10T12:15:18","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T17:15:18","slug":"uncommon-impact-amie-matt-van-susteren-spreading-sustainable-holiday-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2015\/uncommon-impact-amie-matt-van-susteren-spreading-sustainable-holiday-cheer\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncommon Impact: Amie & Matt Van Susteren–Spreading Sustainable Holiday Cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a B Corp certified company<\/a>, UncommonGoods is excited about sustainability. That means more to us than just being \u201cgreen\u201d \u2013 we strive to offer products that reflect the environmental and social best-interests of everyone. So, when our makers are as concerned with sustainability as we are, we\u2019re always excited to learn more<\/a> about their process and the positive impact they\u2019re having on the world.<\/p>\n

\"Filling<\/a><\/p>\n

While many of our makers rely on sustainable practices at one point or another in their process, we\u2019re especially excited about those who place the wider world at the forefront of their craft \u2013 those who are making an uncommon impact. Meet the owners of Nestled Pines Woodworking, Amie and Matt Van Susteren<\/a> \u2014 who make Maple <\/a>(and Cherry<\/a>) Wood Personalized Snowflake Ornaments \u2014 and see the ways that they\u2019re helping preserve forests.<\/p>\n

Living in Lone Rock, Wisconsin<\/a> — about an hour west of Madison — is inspiration enough to make sustainable art, Amie tells us. \u201cWe\u2019re on the Wisconsin River nestled in a valley. There are coyotes wandering through the backyard. It\u2019s everything idyllic you can imagine about Wisconsin,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful, and there are so many resources here to be inspired by and pull from.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amie<\/p>\n

Amie and Matt Van Susteren\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Seven years ago, the couple decided they wanted to change their lives and embark on a creative endeavor together — but they wanted to make sure any eco footprint from their business would be small. \u201cThat part was a no-brainer,\u201d says Amie. \u201cI can\u2019t even imagine not moving forward under this philosophy.\u201d Next, the painter and her hardwood-floor-making husband looked around to see what was at their disposal. \u201cYou\u2019re sustainable by using what you have,\u201d she explains. \u201cThat\u2019s our motto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forests are plentiful in their area, so it\u2019s not a surprise that, as Amie says, \u201cthe wood came first.\u201d Establishing their source material helped them see the laser wood cutter they\u2019d recently acquired in a different light. \u201cIt was, \u2018Well, we have this and we have this — what can we do with it?\u2019\u201d The answer: intricate wooden ornaments. \u201cThere\u2019s a market for crafts in the U.S. and holiday ornaments always feel special<\/a>,\u201d says Amie. \u201cThere\u2019s that sensation you have when you pull your ornaments out every year and they\u2019re new all over again. We want our customers to get as much joy out of the product as we get out of making the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Before they started designing, they researched forests. They wanted to make sure that any growers they would source from \u2014 currently, Colorado Heirloom<\/a> in Loveland, Colorado, though they\u2019re also in talks with a forest two hours north of them \u2014 would use sustainable practices<\/a>. \u201cIt means that the trees in the forest will do what they naturally do: They will die, fall over, replant themselves,\u201d says Amie. \u201cThat means not removing the guys that are in the way, or cutting out all the maple if that\u2019s trendy one year. We want an overall healthy forest, not someone who\u2019s going to clearcut<\/a> their cherry wood for us. We want what\u2019s naturally falling.\u201d (Sometimes, the changing supply of wood can lead to happy experiments. Recently presented with red cedar — a pink wood — Amie was inspired to design a flamingo-shaped ornament: \u201cIt\u2019ll be done by the end of the year!\u201d she says.)<\/p>\n

\"Personalized<\/a><\/p>\n

It followed that, if the forests they used were sustainable, then their practices should be eco-friendly — i.e., local — too. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense to ship wood to China, have it cut, then have it shipped back. We knew we could make a quality product in the United States and in town that was competitive with other ornaments.\u201d Amie spends up to six hours designing an ornament. Then the laser \u201cacts as a printer,\u201d she says, making quick work of the cutting. \u201cThere\u2019s no scrollsawing<\/a>, which allows us to be competitive. We can stay in business and make a quality product.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their collection for UncommonGoods<\/a> is their most intimate yet. \u201cThe packaging isn\u2019t designed just to ensure the ornament ships well, but it\u2019s also personalized.\u201d And earth-friendly, of course. The boxes are made by Indiana-based Michigan City Paper Box Company<\/a> from 100 percent recycled fibers and with 100 percent green hydroelectricity. Nestled Pines Woodworking also uses bows made from consumer recycled polyester and bags made from plant-based biodegradable material. Says Amie, \u201cIf there\u2019s a way to make everything we touch eco-friendly, we\u2019re seeking that out.\u201d As for boxing everything up, that\u2019s an extremely<\/em> local operation: Amie and Matt\u2019s three teenagers \u201chelp tie the bows on our packages!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Personalized<\/a><\/p>\n

Nestled Pines Woodworking is also proud to support its favorite causes. \u201cI love working with the national parks and the state parks,\u201d says Amie. \u201cThey\u2019re champions of sustainability and conservation and have such a huge tasks of keeping things afloat.\u201d So their company makes customized souvenir ornaments for parks such as Amie\u2019s personal favorite, Olympic National Park<\/a> in Washington — a rare rainforest! \u201cWe don\u2019t charge the parks setup fees and we don\u2019t insist on a minimum order. We\u2019re not independently wealthy, but we\u2019ve found other ways to donate. If I can create something that they can sell to continue their mission, that\u2019s awesome and I want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That generosity of spirit extends to their local community, too. \u201cWe just got done making designs for the local historical society and the fire department,\u201d says Amie. \u201cThere are 900 people in our town — and it\u2019s important to be available in both markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wood<\/a><\/p>\n

In the end, Amie\u2019s most excited that she and her husband were able to build a sustainable practice as a team. \u201cIt\u2019s evolved and it\u2019s very exciting to be doing this together, using what we have,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s just us operating out of our basement and our garage. Our equipment is just a laser cutter, a sander and sandpaper. We start with wood and wood is the final product. It just feels right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"See<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amie & Matt Van Susteren may craft their handmade holiday ornaments from wood, but they do it with the future of forests in mind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":42578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[743],"tags":[506,1690,1133],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42322"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42322"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42581,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42322\/revisions\/42581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}