Whether you would want to install a wood flooring, buy new furniture or create a different look for your deck, perhaps you might want to learn about a product that can be harvested in a sustainable method.

Wood can only be declared sustainable if it comes from any of the certified sustainable forests. This means that wood harvested from these forests are replenished as they are taken. Woods that have not been harvested in such a manner may come from areas that are being denuded.

Find the FSC or Forest Stewardship Council to ascertain that the wood used in making your furniture was harvested in the correct manner.

The National Resources Defense Council pointed out that you need to be wary in buying Caribbean pine, leaf mahogany, teak, rosewood, Ipe, Spanish cedar, Okoume, African mahogany and Merbau woods. These trees are hard to sustain and they grow in very small numbers in just a few, select areas. The process used to harvest them can also be quite damaging.

If you find it hard to find the FSC seal each time, then at least opt for reclaimed lumber in the creation of your home furniture. There are a few areas in the country where houses get remodeled and the old lumber used in them are resold. These are what’s known as reclaimed wood.

Eco-friendly Furniture Shopping

The gold seal of approval offered by the FSC has been around for about 20 years. Recently, though, FSC has been performing below the standards that they used to follow and this is according to the Rainforest Relief and the Ecological Internet. FSC has been criticized for certifying the harvest of ancient trees. With such intrigues, it is really up to you whether you would still want to buy and use sustainable wood with the FSC seal.

Apart from affordability, there are many other benefits that can be enjoyed when you use sustainable wood for your furniture –

Inherently, wood by itself is already a sustainable material but to have it FSC certified is a true mark of integrity. This means that the manufacturer does not just claim to have used sustainable wood but is really using the real deal as there is a seal to prove his claims.

Wood can be constructed by hand so this means less carbon imprint with the usual heavy machines that are used to create steel and other furniture materials.

Sustainable wood is as durable as brand new planks of wood or those that have been harvested the traditional way. Hardwoods that have been FSC certified, in particular, have a life span of 50 or more years. Imagine having a durable dining table or a bed which you can make into an heirloom.

Sustainable wood is also recyclable so you won’t have to worry about it clogging any drain or not rotting away somewhere once you have it disposed of.

A world without wood is hard to imagine. Every human being has used wood in at least one aspect from building materials, the paper that he uses each day, the books that he reads, as well as the very chair that he sits in when he eats his dinner.

Sustainable wood forests are there to absorb carbon dioxide so it helps the environment in so many ways. In a way, this helps in mitigating climate change.

These same rich forests sustain biodiversity.

Sustainable wood is as pretty as traditional wood and the greater news is that it comes from acceptable and legal sources that make use of traceability systems. Now isn’t that great?

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