-and this strange looking structure set in the snow fields of the Arctic Circle is the proof.
With boring regularity we pick up a newspaper turn on the TV or radio and are informed of some government initiative or some multi government collaboration to resolve a perceived problem and our initial thoughts are “Why” or “What a waste of tax payers money”
Here at GFD HQ we have recently come across one such project and we think it is brilliant and probably more importantly it is growing daily and it is in the Global interest. In those same newspapers, TV, radio reports we are constantly reminded that our world – for world read ECO system – is under a threat greater than ever before in recorded history and that threat could lead to the loss of animals and plants and a change forever to the world as we know it which currently surrounds us.
The project – The Svalbard Global Seed Store in this article from the “Crop Trust” is explained in great detail in this article from “The Crop Trust” basically the above photograph is simply the entry to a huge underground storage vault where the objective is to deposit samples of the seeds of every known plant in the world. In the event of any worldwide catastrophe seed could be taken from the store and reintroduced into its natural habitat to ensure the continuation of the species.
The Vault is situated on the island of Svalbard midway between Norway and the North Pole where it has been excavated at the end of a 130m tunnel in the permafrost soil and rock of a mountainside where the seeds can be kept at a constant -18 degrees C. With a capacity for circa 4.5 million seeds there is still plenty of capacity to add to the 864,000 already placed in storage.
At GFD HQ we believe that anything that impacts the longevity of our planet has to be good and as we say on our Timber Composite Door web site re our own ECO credentials –
“We like to think our composite doors are the most eco-friendly available today. We run an extensive recycling program, with every door frame using 100% recycled reinforcing. Not only is ‘Werbar’ reinforcing good for the environment, it also out-performs steel and aluminium in terms of screw retention and thermal efficiency.”
At GFD HQ we are highly unlikely to ever do anything that will save the world but we attempt to ensure the minimum carbon footprint for all of our doors and as a certain supermarket advertising says – “every little helps”. The thought of a Bank for seeds got us thinking here at GFD HQ – what could we contribute if there was a storage bank for doors to show future generations the manner in which we used to live and the construction techniques we employed. Our quick vote produced one outstanding door that we could vote for inclusion – the magnificent Parma – and here is one we installed back last year
But on reflection the Tenby can also be pretty spectacular as this recent installation shows
In fact we have twenty nine sensational styles in a choice of eighteen colours with a myriad of glazing and hardware accessories to complement them – maybe we should be proposing that we contribute an example of all of our doors so that mankind of the future can see just how good Timber Composite Doors composite doors were back in 2016.