Wood for all I would spend the whole day outdoors as a child. I caught tadpoles in a stream, build forts in the woods, and climb tall trees. High up in the branches, it was both quiet and exciting. I thought I could hear the twigs growing. Even now, the scent of the forest takes me back to that carefree time and sense of freedom. I now feel a profound sense of freedom in my work as a chemist. I travel a lot, study and give chemistry lessons to children who are learning about the natural sciences for the first time. Sometimes a pupil tells me that he finds the word “chemical” a little frightening. When I explain that the growth of a tree is also a chemical process, I capture their attention. The tree gives me a nice excuse for a thought provoking exercise. “Look at the furniture in this classroom. 128 melamine All of it is made of wood fiber and synthetic resin, usually melamine resin. Imagine that we had to make all that furniture from real wood. Not fiber, but entire planks of solid wood. How much wood do you think you would need and how many extra trees would it take?” Even the youngest child appreciates how difficult this becomes . The funny thing is that some of the children brought up this topic again during today’s lesson. Having looked around their home, gym, snack bar, they soon agreed: there simply are not enough trees to make everything that people want. The most interesting comment came from eightyear-old Mick: “But with resin there is sufficient wood for everyone.” Alex chemist and tree-hugger
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