What do Polar Bears have to do with Furniture?
On Wednesday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This is a long overdue but important step, not only in protecting the world’s most charismatic animals who risk extinction, but also in fighting global warming. Scientists estimate that fully 20% of global warming is due to deforestation. And a significant portion of that deforestation results from illegal harvesting of the rainforest to produce cheap lumber for flooring and furniture. Read more about it in the Washington Post. The bottom line is that if you are purchasing teak, mahogany or any other tropical wood furniture or flooring and it’s not FSC certified, there is a very high likelihood that it has been illegally harvested through clear-cutting of the rainforest.
Vermont Woods Studios was founded on the principle of sustainable forestry and the promotion of forest stewardship around the world. We use locally harvested wood for our natural, handcrafted furniture whenever possible. When customers ask for tropical rainforest woods like mahogany or teak, we make sure we purchase only sustainably harvested wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the world’s gold standard for sustainable forestry. Our goal is to ensure that both our furniture and the forests it came from will be around for generations to come.
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