Baara

There are lots of companies now that are jumping on the Eco-friendly, Green wagon. That’s great and I’m all for doing what we can to ensure our grandchildren have a healthy earth! But when it comes to drum manufactures advertising drums as Eco-Friendly.. what does that really mean? Are lots of companies falsely using this term to pull in customers? You betcha!

Some larger drum importers are advertising their plantation mahogany drums as ‘green’ and “Eco-friendly”. Though plantation mahogany does grow extremely fast and is a cheaply produced wood, it is hardly the quality of true African Mahogany. Density of a wood really helps shape the sound, and plantation mahogany is soft. Well despite quality, it can still be ‘green’… right? That depends. I wouldn’t consider anything that ships from Indonesia to the US ‘green’ as most of the plantation mahogany grows there and the drum manufactures that sell these drums have them built there for the cheaper labor costs. The cheap labor overseas is one thing, but the pull on the economy for lugging containers of drums overseas (either by air or boat) and then by truck once on land is anything but green…

Since I’m on a roll, I’m also bothered by the deceptive advertising of some of these companies. I feel there is a place for all of us drum builders and retailers no matter the size of the company. People will always buy these cheap drums because they’re…cheap and plentiful. However, when you are selling a lower quality, plantation mahogany, Indonesian mass manufactured djembe and advertise it as green, and Pro Quality African djembe… that just doesn’t sit right with me. Nothing about it is African other than the conception for design of which it was built upon, nothing about it is green other than the speed at which this tree grows, and nothing about it is ‘pro’ quality… these drums do not do the African music and culture justice, nor were they ever meant to. This is a prime example of a company for profit vs a company rooted in passing on tradition and building the best quality possible to pass on this beautiful instruments sound and culture.

So now that I got to blab on about that… what is an Eco-friendly djembe or hand drum?

The first thing you should look for is a company that is environmentally conscious, makes as little waste as possible, and supports the local sawyers by buying locally harvested hardwoods. Not only does this help the local economy but in the long run there is much less waste and strain on the economy.  Think for instance, a drum built from a tree next door rather than a tree that had to ship from around the globe. That is why we buy our hardwoods from a local sawyer that focuses his efforts on local hardwoods and why we participate in a program with American Forrest to plant a tree for every drum we sell. One tree will make many drums, especially with the stave design that we utilize with our custom built drums. This is our way of saying thanks to the earth that has provided the materials for our enjoyment.

If Eco-friendly is your top priority you are going to be looking at locally built drums. If you are in the US there aren’t too many quality djembe manufactures that are building djembes that hold their own compared to African built drums. This is where we have found our niche. Our unique djembe design and influence from the source, has inspired us to produce top quality djembes here in the US, and from local materials.  We even utilize deer skin taken during hunting season from friends and other sources.  Deer skin sounds awesome on a djembe by the way!

So if you are going Green… check out our Stave built djembes made here in the USA…  And remember that we are always happy to build up a custom drum to fit your needs.  I’m happy to recommend other companies that do their part and sell quality drums ethically.  There are a few good ones here in the US that import from West Africa, but to be honest, you wont find a better USA made djembe than our very own RHD Pro Series drums.

Here are some examples of our recent work..