Feeling Good About Building with Wood

Feeling Good About Building With Wood

As a general rule, all materials have environmental burdens, so using less of a material is always better and choosing the best material is really about choosing the lesser of evils. There are a few exceptions to this principle, however—at least in theory. For example, products made from problematic waste materials, such as straw-bales from straw that would otherwise be burned, or carpet cushions from old tires.

Another exception might be wood from FSC-certified, well-managed forests. We feel that such wood has a strong environmental benefit, along with the burdens. The benefit is in the incentive it provides to manage the forests well. Forestry operations certified to FSC standards are bound to protect the overall health and multiple values of the forest ecosystem, including wildlife habitat and biodiversity, along with the economic well-being of local residents. Since it is unlikely that all but a select few forested areas might be protected entirely from logging or other exploitation, ecologically sensitive forest management is the best environmental option. And if those practicing good forest management cannot sell enough timber, the pressure to clear or otherwise destroy the forest ecosystem may be unstoppable.

Now that the timber giants operating in North America’s largest old-growth forests have committed to certification (see Major Breakthrough on Forest Certification in British Columbia), it will be up to the Forest Stewardship Council, its accredited certifiers, and all of us who purchase wood products to see that they are held to the high standards. Meeting these standards will be no easy feat for operations of this size, especially as they will be bucking the trend of several hundred years of cut-and-move-on frontier logging. If they are successful, however, we should reward them by preferring their products to wood from uncertified sources. And given the volume of certified wood that should become available, environmentalists may finally be able to feel good about using wood again!

— Nadav Malin