How can I buy sustainable wood products?

If you do decide to build with or buy products made from virgin wood, look for a Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC, label. This will tell you that the wood came from a well-managed forest with lower-impact logging methods. “While no verification system is perfect, FSC is the gold standard,” Hammel says.

Are wood products sustainable?

Wood is a natural, renewable, and sustainable material for building, with a lighter carbon footprint than steel or concrete.

What is sustainably sourced wood?

Sustainably sourced wood minimizes the impact of logging on forests and the surrounding wildlife and communities. Sustainable wood also means that the timber is not a product of illegal logging that violates national and/or regional regulations protecting forests and the environment.

Why is it important to use wood from sustainable forests?

Sustainable wood comes from sustainably managed forests – it is renewable because the forest stewards manage the landscape to prevent damage to eco-systems, watersheds, wildlife and the trees themselves. This takes a long term, rather than short term view, of the resource.

What is the most sustainable hardwood?

Sustainable hardwoods are harvested from forests managed to maintain a natural balance of tree and plant diversity….

1. Oak (Quercus)
2. Maple (Aceraceae)
3. Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)
4. Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)
5. White Ash (Fraxinus americana)

Is Oak a sustainable wood?

Oak is a relatively common tree species and often grown especially for harvesting. This makes it a sustainable hardwood if responsible forestry management is taking place. Similarly with Pine, which is used a lot in the furniture trade. Some more exotic woods such as Teak or Mahogany are more difficult to establish.

Why is recycled wood sustainable?

Another benefit of recycled wood is that they are eco-friendly. No more trees need to get cut down for you to use, you are just re-using the old ones that other people have discarded. If more people were to re-use timber, then the forests will have a chance to recover.

Why wood is the most sustainable material?

Wood is one of the most sustainable and environmentally favourable construction materials available. This is due to its; absorption of carbon dioxide while growing, adaptability as a product and recyclability or use as a biofuel. (To learn more about wood specifically click here).

What types of wood are sustainable?

Which woods are most sustainable? Timber is usually classified as either hardwood, from broad leafed trees like beech and oak, or softwood from conifers like pine and fir. Simply because they’re replaceable, fast-growing species like pine trees tend to be more sustainable than slow-growing trees like oak.

What is the most stable wood?

Wood shrinks and swells at a cellular level until it reaches equilibrium; this is known as “seasoning.” Douglas fir, or simply “fir” as it is typically referred to, is the most stable wood on a cellular level because once it is seasoned, it virtually stops shrinking or warping.

How can you identify if the wood you are buying is sustainable wood?

How to identify sustainable wood – The FSC. Always look for official certification of the wood’s sustainable source, even if it says it’s from the EU. There have been questions about wood from some EU sources, for example illegal logging has long been suspected in Russian and Siberian forests.