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Now that we've covered the finer points of finding environmentally-friendly and healthy wood furniture, there's just one more piece to the puzzle: how to consider the social impacts of the furniture you buy. Like the environmental impact of wood, much of the social impact can be traced to where the wood comes from, and how those forests are managed.
Widespread chemical use, the pollution of vital watersheds and erosion and soil runoff resulting from clear-cutting can all be detrimental to workers and community livelihood and health. Additionally, the land-use and tenure rights of indigenous communities are often ignored by timber companies, and, when all the wood is gone from a given location, the locals are left without resources for building, heating, and supporting their local economy. This goes double for the other "locals" in these communities: the wildlife that need the trees for their homes and food supply. Here's how to be sure you find wood that's good.
1. Use your head to find "smart" wood
The Rainforest Alliance's SmartWood certification program includes a wide variety of verification programs, from the Forest Stewardship Council certification we mentioned before, to the Rediscovered Wood Certification that addresses certification of products that are not eligible for Forest Stewardship Council certification as recycled or reclaimed.
2. Learn to ask the right questions
Doing your homework is an important step to finding guilt-free furnishings, and asking the right questions can often be the difference between finding out what you want to know and walking home with something whose impact you'll later regret. For example, you're not likely to get a straight answer to a question like "This table wasn't produced from an endangered tree species that was illegally logged, destroying a fragile ecosystem and disrupting wildlife habits and local communities, was it?" Instead, start simple ("Where do your materials come from?") and get more specific from there. And, remember, "From the lumber mill" isn't a reasonable answer.
3. Make sure your furniture isn't breaking the law
Not all wood furniture on the market is made from legal and non-endangered trees. To make sure that you're not buying an illegally traded species and inadvertently contributing to the destruction of a dwindling resource, visit the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Species covered by CITES are listed in three appendices, according to the degree of protection they need.
4. Don't let the wool get pulled over your eyes
As consumers express a growing interest in going green, more and more companies are making an effort to look the part, and, when they can't qualify for a reputable certification, they go for shadier versions, or even make up their own. The only ones we trust fall under the Rainforest Alliance umbrella; others, like the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) -- a program established by American Forest & Paper Association, a forest industry trade group -- have industry-friendly provisions and don't address social concerns at all, and should be avoided.
Now that you have the scoop on the environmental, health, and social implications of wood and wood furniture, we hope you'll consider them when it comes time for that new dining set or desk. Check out our Buy Green Guides for some solid choices for home furnishings, clothing, footwear and more.
Difficulty level: Moderate
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