CARLSBAD -- For cabinet-maker and environmentalist Peter Vivian, the trade that had been his bread and butter for years left him with a guilty conscience.

As with other industries that deal with wood -- such as furniture and home construction -- cabinetry, in general, lends to the depletion of forests.

Vivian said he felt he was harming the environment every day he went to work.

So when he learned of several forms of alternative lumber he could use to construct cabinets, he said he knew he could once again sleep at night.

"I just realized that instead of changing my career and learning a whole new trade, I just had to switch the medium I was working with," Vivian said. "Ten years of experience is hard to let go of."

Now the owner of Artistic Freedom Designs in Carlsbad, Vivian creates custom cabinets as well as kitchen, bath and bedroom furniture out of plywood constructed from sustainable resources such as bamboo and plantation-grown coconut palm.

"There are no trees being cut down to make this furniture," Vivian said.

"Bamboo is essentially like grass -- it grows fast and everywhere."

For the interior of many of his cabinets, Vivian builds with bio-composite boards, which are much like fiber board, yet are composed of agricultural wastes including wheat hulls and sunflower seed shells. He also uses salvaged woods from old buildings and construction sites.

The bamboo plywood, which is 8 percent harder than maple, is purchased from the Berkeley-based Smith and Fong Co., Vivian said.

Vivian said one of the more environmentally friendly aspects of using the agricultural bio-composites boards is that the waste would otherwise go to a landfill.

One reason why Vivian uses the bio-composites is that they are constructed with formaldehyde-free glue. Furniture made with formaldehyde can give off gases that pollute the air inside of a home. In fact, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, indoor air pollution from similar items kills about 11,400 people every year.

"In some cases, the air inside people's homes is 10 times worse than the air outdoors," Vivian said.

Ultimately, Vivian said he strives to provide a product that is good both for the environment and for his customers' well-being. Plus, the furniture and cabinets are just as attractive as more traditional pieces, said Pollie Gautsch, one of Vivian's customers and a Cardiff resident.

"He is amazing, he is very precise, and I've been very happy," Gautsch said.

Since she met Vivian three years ago, Gautsch said she has had him construct custom cabinets for both her former and current home. Gautsch said she continues to purchase his pieces because of the quality of the work and its eco-friendly spirit.

"In this day and age with all the clear-cutting of forests, it makes me feel better to know that the wood came from sustainable resources or recycled products," Gautsch said.

Vivian said he originally got into cabinetry and furniture-making as a teenager when he attended a vocational school in Philadelphia. After a six-year apprenticeship with a master carpenter, Vivian moved to California in 1999, and began managing a cabinet shop in Fallbrook.

Although he enjoyed his profession, Vivian said he felt uncomfortable with the industry's practices, including the use of formaldehyde and unsustainable resources.

"I've been an environmentalist since I was very young -- I've always been in tune with nature, but I had a job that had no regard for the environment."

On the other hand, Vivian felt that leaving the trade entirely couldn't help the environment, either, because with or without him, the cabinet industry would continue using the same business practices.

"If everyone thought that way, then nothing in this world would change -- we would keep heading down this path," Vivian said.

So, while at a natural foods show in Anaheim, Vivian ran across a booth promoting bio-composites and bamboo plywood and realized he could make cabinets without sacrificing his beliefs.

"I think it was a huge challenge and a huge leap, but there was no other way I could do it," Vivian said.

After a year of research, Vivian opened his shop in 2002. Since then, his business has slowly gained more work, and Vivian hopes to gross $200,000 this year. He said the business earned about $100,000 for 2003.

Despite his monetary success, Vivian said the money isn't very important to him, as long as he can keep his shop open and continue to offer alternatively made cabinets and furniture.

"Something inside me said, 'If you are doing something so positive, how can you fail?' "

Jessica Musicar is a frequent contributor to the North County Times. Contact her at gwyllion@aol.com.