I recently read news that city officials in Galveston, TX, were expecting to send most of its trees killed by Hurricane Ike last year (some more than 100 years old) to the landfill, citing the fact that there was too much wood to get rid of any other way. Many, including environmentalists and artists, spoke out about what they perceived as a waste of such a “valuable and sentimental commodity.”

Now, an array of new homes have sprung up for the trees. Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport plans to use the large, curvaceous trunks and limbs to restore an 1841 whaling ship. Shipbuilders in Spain want to use some of the trees to help reconstruct the brig belonging to island namesake Bernardo de Gálvez, then a Spanish crew will retrace Galvez’s route from Spain to America and end up in Galveston in 2011. And architects working to restore a Methodist church plan to use some of the wood to build a new lectern and carve a new pedestal for its altar table.

The city also opened a wood lot for residents and artists to haul off trunks and branches, and a local sawmill has offered to take whatever is left so it can be used for flooring or furniture. The city’s debris contractor even found a company willing to take any leftover wood chips to use for recycling.

Stories like these are becoming more common with the spread of sustainable building and green living, and with bad news being the prevalent type of news seen right now, it is refreshing to hear of people making lemonade when given lemons. Is there any good news going on that you would like to share? If so, lets hear it.