Thank you for your interest in our campaign to save our LOCAL TREES from the chippers and landfill!

Your donations will support not only our upcoming nonprofit business, Lumbercycle, but every dollar will also go to Palomar's woodworking foundation to support it's students, staff, and keep their urban forestry program running! That's DOUBLE the love!! And in return, you will receive custom made cutting boards, butcher blocks, or CUSTOM FURNITURE for your donations!



We are Lumbercycle, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created for the purposes of recycling fallen trees into usable lumber, keeping that biomass out of our landfills. Founded by Tom Hamilton and Brett Ritchey, our mission is to repurpose trees removed from urban environments into usable byproducts that can be used uplift our city by donating our locally sourced wood to public projects that posivitely effect our communities.

Every single day, trees are removed because of disease, infestation, or potential damages to property in our city, and the majority of that precious renewable resource is chipped into mulch, burned, or burried in our landfill. When trees are burried, they decompose and release CO2 emmissions which harms our environment. By sequestering that carbon into usable byproducts like lumber, we are keeping that carbon out of the ground and atmosphere and transforming it into beautiful furniture for everyone to enjoy while still providing usable firewood and mulch from lumber offcuts. We work with local tree removal companies, and only utilize trees that have to be removed, never strong healthy trees as we wish to promote a city with as many trees as possible.

The first step to reaching our goal is owning our own sawmill, and we have an opportunity to get a big head start with a piece of equipment called the Woodmizer LT-70. This computer operated, hydrolic powered sawmill is professional grade and mobile, which will allow us to move to large tree sites to operate and is the perfect way to help our business hit the ground running! The sawmill is one of 3 that belong to Palomar College's Urban Forestry program and we are negotiating a long term payment plan so that we can get started as soon as possible. Brand new, these machines run at around $70,000! We are negotiating a very reasonable price, but require a down payment to get the process started... After the lumber is cut, we will be working with Palomar's kiln to have them dried and ready for use!

We are raising $5,800 to use as a down payment for this machine, and we hope that YOU can help us reach that goal so that we can help our environment, our communities, and keep from wasting the beauitiful potential that these trees have inside them.

We are offering incentives to help people give to our cause by offering custom made wood products in exchange for you donation! Local deliveries are available!

For ANY SIZE donation, we will send and post a personal thank you and send a shout out to you or anything you like in exchance for your support! Every bit counts!

For a $50 donation (plus shipping), we will send you a long grain cutting board as thanks for your contribution. Please specify whether you would like it rectangular or surfboard shaped!


For a $100 donation (plus shipping), we will send you an endgrain butcher block cutting board as thanks for your contribution.



For a $300 donation (local delivery only), we will make you a shelf made from locally sourced wood. Here a picture of one I made for my keyboard! It's made from local monterey cypress for the top and olive wood for the brackets.

For a $600 donation (local delivery only), we will make you a custom rustic mantel with locally sourced wood.

For an $800 donation (local delivery only), we will make you a custom bookcase (up to  6 feet tall)from sheet materials and repurposed wood. Contact us for options.

For a $1000 donation (local delivery only), we will make you a beautiful coffee/side table from thick locally sourced slabs of wood. Contact us for options. Here's a picture of one that Brett made that now lives in La Jolla! Its's made from a local eucalyptus tree and came out BEAUTIFUL!

For questions or more information, contact Tom via email.

Thank you for your support and remember to let us know whenever you see a tree that is going to be removed!



Tom Hamilton is a San Diego State University graduate of Social Science Single Subject. He been a woodworking student at Palomar College since 2013 after being inspired by the desings in wood exhibit at the San Diego County Fair. Since then, his passions have grown towards utilizing the beauty of the natural resources that coinhabit our cities and beyond through furniture design and woodturning. He has studied clock-building, hand-tool joinery, bowl and spindle turning, cabinet making, and tool maintenance and upkeep at Palomar College and has been building custom furniture at The Wood Furniture Factory since June 2015.

Brett Ritchey has been the Sawyer for Palomar College’s Urban Forestry program for several years and is experienced in all aspects of wood technology--from tree to table. Along with utilizing naturally fallen or necessarily removed trees and milling them into lumber for the students to use, he has also completed several certificates in woodworking technology and creates beautiful pieces of furniture using locally sourced wood. He is knowledgeable in both native and urban tree species. As a San Diego native, he is passionate about our local ecology and is dedicated to keeping our precious trees out of the landfills.