FSC Certified Outdoor Furniture Challenges

This morning at Vermont Woods Studios I’m sitting here ever-so-comfortably in a gorgeous Bolivian cherry rocking chair, sipping tea, and marveling at the recent snow and the way it dusted the evergreens on the hillside. We’ve had many snowstorms in Vermont this winter and this is the time of year when I begin to think about – but not yet long for – spring, which in Vermont is still months away.

 

We’d hoped to be introducing a new line of outdoor furniture this spring, but given the current instability in the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) market, we’re going to focus instead on making our indoor furniture with locally harvested wood. 

 

The issue with outdoor furniture is that in order to have truly long lasting performance, the wood must be dense and disease, rot and mildew resistant. This usually means a tropical wood like teak or mahogany, both of which are becoming endangered due to clear-cutting of the rainforests. FSC does a great job in authenticating responsibly harvested wood, through their certification program which enables us to authenticate and have detailed knowledge of the chain of custody of our wood– from the landowners to the foresters, to the loggers, the sawmills and the furniture makers.  With tropical woods it’s important to verify that each link in the chain is certified as environmentally sound and sustainable. Otherwise, it’s a very good bet that the wood has been logged illegally.

 

I’ll keep you posted on the FSC market. At Vermont Woods Studios we look forward to offering a line of outdoor furniture asap that meets our criteria for beauty and quality while supporting our passion to save the world’s endangered rainforests.

Looking for our old blog?
 

Comments

[Marnie]

I came across your website quite by accident as I was thinking about summer here in snowy Toronto. And I'm so glad I did; now I know where I'll get that porch swing I've been dreaming of, and I'm willing to wait until you're able to find a new supplier, however long that might take. We need many more companies like yours that allow consumers to make enlightened choices with our dollars. Thanks so much for the inspiration and for doing business in such a sustainable and moral way.

[Peggy Farabaugh]

Hi Marnie-
Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement! We needed that ;)
We will keep working on our FSC certified outdoor furniture acquisition project, although it might be out to Spring 2009 until we can make it happen. We are committed to it though, and to changing the way people all over the world think about buying furniture. I’m happy to report that, in this time of recession our sales are actually on the way up and I know that it’s because our green message is getting out with the help of wonderful people like you. We appreciate your support and hope you will tell others about our site. I will be in touch with word about the outdoor line as soon as it’s available. Thanks again and best regards,
peggy