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Green Furniture: Getting Techie
FSC Certified Wood
If wood is FSC certified, this means that the forest it was cut from is managed in a way that allows the natural ecosystem to maintain itself—in other words, it stays a forest. In theory, a well-managed forest can continue to produce wood indefinitely. This is the opposite of clear-cutting, where whole forests are leveled at once and the ecosystem is demolished (unless you consider the opposite of clear-cutting to be not cutting at all). Look for FSC certified wood.
Question your wood
There are two sides to every coin, however. Sustainable forestry does still have an impact on the forest, and still has the potential to damage the ecosystem and habitats within. Tree farms can be monocultures devoid of biodiversity, and can be treated with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, just like non-organic food crops. They can also be genetically modified, which creates the risk of altered trees invading natural ecosystems in the wild. It's always good to ask questions about where your wood comes from, but answers can sometimes be hard to come by.
Volatile Organic Compounds
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs): In the words of Environmental Building News: "Carbon-based substances that occir as gases under typical ambient air temperature and pressure. For the purposes of regulating air pollutants, EPA and other agencies include only compounds that contribute to smog in the definition of VOCs. For indoor air quality purposes the definition is not limited in that way. There are also semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) that don't become gaseous as readily but are still found in indoor air. Those most commonly identified as chemicals of concern are pesticides, flame retardants, and phthalates. Finally, microbial VOCs are generated and released as a result of microbial growth." (EBN Vol. 15, No. 9, 2005)
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