Certified wood is wood where its sources have been examined and approved by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC is a global non-profit organization with branches in many different countries. They’re one of the most prominent voices in the setting of the sustainable harvesting of wood.
Every dollar you spend on wood is in effect voting on whether or not sustainability is important. If you spend $100 on wood that goes to a giant multinational which doesn’t care about sustainability and just wants to make a profit, then your $100 will enable them to do that even better. It’ll go towards funding more tree cutters, more manpower, more factories.
On the other hand, if you spend that $100 on certified wood, you’re voting for sustainability. Companies that only produce certified wood will be better off. They’ll be able to pay their staff, they’ll be able to grow more trees and they’ll be able to provide better services to the world thanks to your $100.
Each and every dollar you spend on certified wood is a vote that sustainability matter.
So what exactly are you voting for with your sustainable dollars?
==> Care for Wildlife
When a forest is destroyed, the homes of thousands of animals are displaced.
Illegal loggers and non-certified wood pay no care to these creatures. They simply cut down the trees and let the animals suffer as they may.
With FSC wood, you’ll know that every precaution has been taken to help ensure the wildlife has a place to live after the wood has been cut.
==> Care for Deforestation
Our forests are depleting at an alarming rate. We’re not going to run out of wood, but the deforestation of our forests can have an even more devastating impact on the world at large.
For example, much of Brazil’s farms depend on the rain for watering. That rain comes from the evaporated water of the rainforests in other countries nearby.
If those forests were destroyed, it’s not just the wildlife that would suffer, but Brazil’s agriculture industry and the world economy at large. If a product in Brazil becomes harder to make, it becomes more expensive for everyone.
That has an effect all the way down the supply chain. If soybeans get more expensive, soy sauce also gets more expensive. That makes cooking for the woman in China who earns $200 and has five kids that much more difficult.
This kind of domino effect permeates through many of the world’s forests. If we continue to cut trees as though they were an unlimited resource, we’ll very quickly destroy nature’s method of providing rain, providing oxygen and providing ecosystem support to the rest of the world.
Buying from FSC certified wood isn’t all that much more expensive than buying run-of-the-mill wood. Yet the difference you make is huge. That’s why if you care about sustainability, it makes sense to buy certified wood.
