No live trees cut, no metal fasteners.
Lumber sourced from the Sierra Nevada.
Your local, biodegradable alternative
THE COFFIN
The plain pine box, our classic 100% wood. Our Blue Pine Coffins exhibit function over form. The hexagonal shape is easier to move down a hallway and around corners. The raised top allows lower sides which helps attendants to easily arrange the deceased. The long round handles provide a good grip for mourners carrying the coffin to the graveside. Excluding metal fasteners, paint and stains as required for Orthodox Jewish and Green Burials promotes healthy soils that assist returning the body peacefully to the earth. Overall, the goal is to help the mourners have an emotional experience that supports their grief and healing.
The wood
Blue Pine is a term for Ponderosa Pine lumber that has blue-gray patterns or figures in the grain of the wood.
The wood we use in our coffins comes primarily from utility line clearing operations in Nevada County California. The climate in this region is getting warmer and drier and the trees are migrating. Ponderosa Pines stressed by drought are susceptible to pine bark beetles and the Grosmannia Clavigera, blue stain fungus. This fungus kills the drought stressed trees. Those near power lines are deemed a hazard and are periodically cleared. Suitable logs are delivered to sawmills nearby, sawed into rough lumber and dried in large sheds for many months.
the sawmill
Deep in the forests of the Sierra Nevada this small sawmill receives selected logs. They mill and air dry some of the nicest cedar and pine in the Central Sierras. Blue Pine Coffins sources exclusively from these wonderful sawyers and millwrights.
THE LUMBER
Fred’s lumbermill resaws, profiles and planes the rough boards from the sawmill. The boards are milled into finished lumber we can use to fabricate your coffin.
The Woodshop
Blue Pines Coffins woodshop is located in Davis and powered by solar energy from our rooftop. Our whole operation from trees in the forest to coffins ready for delivery is accomplished in less than a hundred miles. All the woodworkers from the loggers to sawyers, millwrights and carpenters are small family shops. We all take great pride in our workmanship to make you a beautiful organic, green Blue Pine Coffin.
