rainforest sustainable products
Using environmentally friendly timber products in your outdoor furniture
Designing urban street furniture or any form of public seating such as park seats, tables, chairs, noticeboards and bollards or any kind of contemporary street furniture has many considerations and quite often the aspect that is overlooked in the planning of health and safety and aesthetic style is using wood from sustainable sources. Often, environmental considerations for timber used in bespoke urban street seating simply come down to one question: Does it carry the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certification? The FSC do some great work in sourcing timber from renewable sources, however, they are not alone in passing timber that has a low consequence to the environment, and often FSC sourced timber is more expensive. The Forest Stewardship Council has also come under fire from the Rainforest Foundation who issued a report posing some thought provoking questions regarding the FSC’s promise that timber based products endorsed by the FSC comes from a sustainably managed forest. This doesn’t mean that we should not use FSC endorsed wood, use a cheaper less environmentally friendly timber alternative, or even use other materials such as concrete, steel and plastics which all have their own consequence in the environment.
Current criticisms of the use of timber based products focus on the issue of de-forestation. Compared with concrete, aluminium, steel, plastics and other alternatives, it is generally believed that sustainable timber can cause less environmental impact when measured on a true lifespan analysis.
Wood is renewable, natural, nontoxic, organic, highly waste efficient; bio-degrades safely and is recyclable. Evidence points to timber’s contribution in the reduction of carbon emissions, and therefore helps to lessen the impact of global warming. For these reasons, it is thought that it is advantageous to the environment at large to contribute to the international trade in sensibly managed timber, and to recognise the importance of the resource for today and the future. Modern wooden furniture such as street finger posts, bollards, urban litter bins, planters, shelters and information signs can also redress the balance between nature and the more recognisable signs of modern urban living such as steel, concrete, glass and pavement. We should ensure that current forest stocks are kept at a sustainable level by investing in sensible forestry work that is going ahead in parts of the world and ensuring that we use outdoor timber furniture in a controlled and sensible way.
When looking for wood suppliers or bespoke outdoor furniture manufacturers make sure they use softwoods and hardwoods sourced from all over the world that are traced to their source and there is some accountability involved in the production of wood from developments in forest management. Make sure the wooden furniture produced by the manufacturer refers to well-managed forests where evidence is available.
About the Author
Woodcraft UK produce Quality Urban Street Furniture and are always transparent as to the source of their timber.
Eco-Friendly Hotels: Luxury with a Conscience
This is a discussion on Eco-Friendly Hotels: Luxury with a Conscience within the Current Cruise Travel News forums, part of the category; Aol Travel. Has Just Posted the Following: Filed under: Hotel , EcoTravel , Luxury Meg Massie We all know that …
