Eva-Last showed its support of the country’s first eco-friendly children’s home by sponsoring Eva-tech composite for the balconies and screens.

“It’s an honour to be part of this groundbreaking project,” commented Eva-Last director, Nathan Chapman.

The New Jerusalem Children’s Home is creating a brighter – and greener – future for its 80 young residents.  To read more about the orphanage and Eva-tech’s involvement, visit the Eva-Last News and Events.

Midrand, South Africa, December 2011: After years of wishing and hoping and praying...and lots of hard work, the New Jerusalem Children’s Home is gearing up to officially open its doors as South Africa’s uniquely green orphanage.

The New Jerusalem Children’s Home has set a new standard for budgeted eco-friendly design.  Practically every aspect of the orphanage layout and construction takes the environment into account.  From the indigenous plants used in the landscaping, to wood plastic composite Eva-tech decking sponsored by Eva-Last, the home’s commitment to living green is evident.

Dr. Adrienne Feldner-Busztin of the New Jerusalem Children’s Home explained, “We have developed a holistic, environmentally friendly, cost effective and integrated plan for the Home.”

“This is a groundbreaking project,” commented Eva-Last director, Nathan Chapman.  “It proves that going green can have social and environmental benefits.”

The orphanage exemplifies that eco-friendly building can be affordable and aesthetically pleasing.  Although many materials were sponsored by independent companies, the New Jerusalem Children’s Home had to work within their strict budget.  Many of the green products chosen, like Eva-tech wood plastic composite, are considered long-term investments.   Eva-tech can last up to forty years as decking and outdoor furniture, even without the maintenance needed for traditional timber decking.

Eighty young children are scheduled to move in to the New Jerusalem Children’s Home this week.  Friday marks an open day for sponsors to see the final project.  The official grand opening is scheduled for February, 2012.

“We are truly happy to be a part of this amazing orphanage,” explained Eva-Last director, Marc Minne.  “It will be so special to see the children in their new home.”

The New Jerusalem Children’s Home is a registered NGO.  For more information, please contact Dr. Adrienne Feldner at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

So what if it’s not a South African holiday?  Thanksgiving is a nice excuse to appreciate the good things in your life.  Today as Americans slice up turkey, you can reflect on what  you’re grateful for.

Here at Eva-Last we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you, whether you’re a loyal Eva-tech customer or just learning what composite is.  We appreciate your interest in our company and, more importantly, in our environment.

The first (American) Thanksgiving was born after the Pilgrims, recently arrived from England, had survived their first winter in the New World thanks to the help of their new Native American neighbours.  Thanksgiving was the celebration of this budding friendship between people of very different backgrounds.

You can just imagine what the world was like back then; thick forests rich with wildlife.

Since then, sadly, we’ve lost many of our natural resources.  Deforestation, global warming and pollution are major issues for all of us.  But rather than dwell on the negative, let’s remember all that we have to thank nature for.  In South Africa we have national parks the size of small countries, enough shoreline to make landlocked nations drool and even Table Mountain, a new natural wonder of the world. 

And although the face of the Earth is quickly changing from untouched jungles to concrete ones, we have the chance to reverse our environmentally-harmful actions.  We can make small and large changes in our own lives that will save a tree or even save a rainforest.  Thankfully, we can work to protect Mother Nature.

So whether you’re reading this from Johannesburg, Cape Town or Tahiti, happy Thanksgiving!

So far you’ve read here about classic green building initiatives, like Fallingwater, and extreme eco-building concepts, like stick art (some of which is inhabitable).  But now let’s take a look at the green happening right here in our very own company.

Ladies and gentlemen, (dramatic pause) I am pleased to tell you that pictures of the new Eva-Last office are in!  (Although I can’t hear I’m certain you’re cheering wildly from the comfort of your own home).

It’s bright.  It’s spacious.  It’s clean, and most importantly it’s green.  The sight of so much eco-friendly Eva-tech composite stacked and sorted nearly brought tears to my eyes.  Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration.

But, really, the new offices have a sense of freshness about them – and not just because of the new coat of white paint.  There’s a sense of optimism here that the loads of Eva-tech composite going in and out of this place have a purpose; like maybe all our sweat and toil is actually making some sort of positive contribution to the world.

To outsiders it might be just an office but to us on the inside – both in the building and in on the value of building green – it’s the centre of our part of the green building movement.   Not only is Eva-tech made of recycled plastic bottles and sawdust (reusing what would otherwise become landfill mess), but it’s also providing you with a viable alternative to using wood.   To date, Eva-tech has saved exactly eighty-nine trillion trees from being cut down and turned into decking.* I might actually hug a tree later today just thinking about it.

The move into better offices doesn’t just show that Eva-tech, the brand, is becoming more and more popular.  It also tells you that saving the environment is becoming a greater and greater priority for all of us.  We’re walking up to the reality that the status quo won’t cut it, and opening ourselves up to new ways to do things with the environment in mind.

So, well done, You.  Well done, Us.  Well done, Earth and Trees (I’ll stop now before I get more out of control).

*Note that statistics in this blog may be blown out of proportion or completely made up.

Welcome to the Eva-tech blog.  ‘Another decking blog?’ you may be asking yourself.  But this is more than just a tribute to the finest outdoor room you’ll ever have and the best investment in your home and life you’ll ever make (shameless plug).  No, this is a chance for us to go beyond the wonders of our own eco-friendly Eva-tech composite deck and appreciate advancements in green building around the globe; an opportunity to highlight how we can live and build and progress alongside our environment.

Let’s start with a classic.  Fallingwater.

More Frank Lloyd Wright?

Well, yes, more Frank Lloyd Wright.  Stop rolling your eyes.

Sure, most of us can identify the famous Fallingwater house from a picture and agree that it was well ahead of its time (think about it - completed in 1939- and still considered a modern design!), but the real genius of Frank Lloyd Wright’s creation is its intertwinement with nature.

When the Kaufmann family hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design their holiday house, they expected their beloved waterfall to be happily framed by some grand bank of windows; to live next to the waterfall, not on top of it.  Makes sense to me.   I like to look at pretty things.

But that’s exactly what FLW didn’t want.  He believed nature deserves more from us than a fleeting glance, and was adamant that living with the waterfall was more important than having a nice backdrop.  And so this now iconic piece of architecture put the environment at its very base; connecting humans and nature through the ever-present rumble and splash of the waterfall.

Maybe a building from 1939 doesn’t count as modern or relevant.  But maybe it does.