Deconstruct the taken-for-granted.

PLYWOOD

Lurid tales of grains and glues.

 
 
We tell you the pasts and futures of the objects of everyday life. Where do they come from? How are they made? Where do they go? And what do they cost? -- in dollars spent now and later, in resources depleted from here and from there.

Each month we'll add something new from the store of things in a typical American household. Clothing, computers, light bulbs, magazines, dinner. No hectoring.

Our reporter, Seth Zuckerman, starts with everyone's favorite form of substance abuse.

 

He then moves on to the most important of all household appliances.