Gallery: Tropical Salvage positions sustainable furniture business for retail focus

Topical Salvage's owner, Tim O'Brien, was an importer — working to fund his travel habit — when he spied an opportunity 15 years ago to salvage waste wood from tropical forests.  

Borneo has the highest documented tree species diversity on the planet, but much of the wood has been discarded from illegal mining and land-clearing operations. 

Tropical Salvage worked with the Clinton Climate Initiative on a feasibility study to document the amount of available salvageable wood before setting up shop to make high-value consumer products from the waste. 

"We've created jobs for people who would otherwise be undermining the environment," O'Brien said. The palm oil and illegal logging industries are strong in the region, but Tropical Salvage is providing another work option. Here, workers dive to find wood dumped in the river. 

O'Brien said he's working with local organizations to establish a school to teach woodworking skills. "They're not used to collaborating with business," he said. "But if business doesn't lead the way it's not going to catch." 

Tropical Salvage employs local woodworkers to craft furniture. O'Brien estimates that the economic differences result in furniture that's one-third the price of what a piece made in the U.S. from salvaged wood would cost. 

Tropical Salvage's new space in Northwest Portland will have room for storage and some custom building work in addition to a retail space. O'Brien said he's interested in finding a complementary company to share the space with. 

Painters prepare the future retail showroom for Tropical Salvage. It's expected to open the first week in October. O'Brien is also considering a Seattle location. 

Tropical Salvage furniture features hand-carved details and the irregularities that are inherent in salvaged wood. 

In a partnership with Costco, Tropical Salvage items will be featured in the Costco Roadshow program at Northwest stores between January and July 2013. 

O'Brien checks a table for some natural scarring he expects to see in the wood from the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi. Such distinctions make the wood more "charismatic," O'Brien said.