I try very hard to be a conscious consumer. I avoid “made in China” like the plague, I buy local, handmade, organic, fair-trade, and sustainably harvested- whenever possible. But there is a tricky little thing called greenwashing that can really rope us in and fool us into feeling good about purchases that are really not ethical or eco-friendly at all.
Have you personally had this experience? I have. Just recently I went out in search of a household cleaning solution that would be non-toxic and biodegradable…and I thought I found it, because the label said so. But when I looked closely at the ingredient list, I found no less than three ingredients that are definitely NOT non-toxic. They weren’t the most terrible chemicals ever, but I still wouldn’t want them going into our ground water. The makers of that product should definitely be more responsible about how they label their products.
Greenwashing might be a relatively new concept to many of us {suddenly the “green lifestyle” phenomenon has made it to the mainstream and everyone, including fakers like Walmart, is jumping on the bandwagon}, but my dad is a forester and he has dealt with greenwashing in the wood products industry for many years. Wood products are one of the most mis-advertised products out there, and it is very difficult to find any real information about where the wood you are buying comes from. This goes for wood furniture more than anything else. Stop by a furniture showroom in just about any city, and you will see a variety of “sustainably harvested” wood chairs, tables, etc…But try to trace the wood in that chair back to its source and you’ll find out the sad truth.
This is why my dad, Robert Simeone, helped found the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)- an organization that certifies wood products companies according to very rigid guidelines and standards. If a company is FSC certified, it means they are the most trustworthy and ethical wood products company in the industry. In most cases, it takes years to actually get certified, and each company is constantly re-evaluated to make sure they’re staying up to par.
Most of the wood products available on the market today come from South America. The country of Bolivia is a front-runner in forest certification, whereas their neighbor Brazil, sadly, is a front-runner in devastating their forest land with clear-cutting and burning. Brazil is also one of the world’s largest exporters of beef. The forest is burned to create pasture for cattle {just one more reason to be a vegetarian or to buy only locally raised meat.} However, many communities in rural Brazil are completely supported by the beef industry, so to tell them they shouldn’t burn down all their trees would sound ridiculous to them; farming is how they survive and provide for their families.
The FSC understood from the very beginning that they needed to find a way for trees to be profitable, or people would continue to see no value in keeping them around. By creating a market for sustainably harvested wood products, the FSC has been able to slowly change how many South American communities view their forests. Trees are no longer in the way, they are a way to make a living {while still preserving the land for generations to come.}
I had the privilege to travel to Bolivia with Mike and our friend Dave, to photograph and interview a wood products company there that exports beautiful furniture all over the world, called Jensen Leisure Furniture. They are FSC certified, and the way they run their business is truly amazing. You can view the coffee-table book we created, for a look at what real sustainable wood products looks like. Remember these images next time you set out to purchase a new dinet set.
This post could easily be a multi-post series…but I’ll leave it here for now and see what you all have to say on the matter. Have you ever been fooled by greenwashing? And specifically regarding wood products: do you think twice before buying wood furniture, a wooden salad bowl, lumbar/boards for building things, etc.? Do you have questions about where to find FSC-certified wood?