Sustainable Wood Furniture and Sustainable Forests

If you are looking to buy furniture, paper or other tree-sourced products, try to buy products that are manufactured from sustainable resources.

The key is to look for the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) logo on the product, as it represents a certified wood or tree product that is sourced from a sustainably managed forest.

sustainable-wood-fsc-logo

Here’s a compiled list of sustainable woods that you should look for in your furniture:

US and Pacific Northwest

Tanoak – Tanoak is a hard, heavy wood that in many ways resembles the true oaks; thus, tanoak is often included in lumber from western oak species.

California Black Oak – Black oak heartwood is light brown with pink to pale reddish-brown color; the sapwood is a pale yellowish-white to brownish-white.

Pacific Madrone – Madrone ranks highest (fewest machining defects) among all the hardwoods of the Pacific Northwest for planing, shaping, boring, and turning.

Oregon White Oak – The wood of Oregon white oak has exceptional strength properties and is noted for its hardness, toughness, resiliency, and resistance to abrasion. It hold nails well, but because of its density and hardness it will split without preboring.

Claro Walnut – Black walnut is straight grained and easily worked with hand tools and by machine. It finishes beautifully and holds paint and stain exceptionally well. It also glues and polishes well.

Giant Chinkapin – The wood of giant chinkapin, also known as Goldenleaf chestnut, is of moderately fine texture and is moderately hard and heavy.

California Bay Laurel – California-laurel is a moderately heavy, moderately hardwood with and even texture and a fine grain. When soaked in water, the wood darkens.

Bigleaf Maple – The wood from bigleaf maple is fine-grained and of moderate weight and hardness. While not as strong as the eastern hard maples, it performs better in most tests thatn the soft maples, and is suitable for most furniture design applications.

Outside US

There are other wide-range forests that can be considered sustainable throughout the world. As mentioned, one of the best indicators is to look for the FSC logo, which will consider what type of wood the product is made of. Typically, woods such as pine, oak and birch from northern dry regions of the Earth are less of a risk when compared to tropical and subtropical trees such as teak, mahogany, and rosewood.

One of the kings of sustainable wood is bamboo, as bamboo is the world’s fastest growing plant, and grows easily in many climates. As product markets move toward environmental awareness, we are seeing a flurry of bamboo products popping up from rattan furniture to kitchen bowls.