Over the previous a number of years, as customers have turn into extra acutely aware of the influence their purchases can have on the world, third get together certifications like Truthful Commerce and B Companies have sprung as much as assist audit the provision chain and enterprise practices of firms around the globe. Within the world wooden furnishings and flooring trade, probably the most well-known third get together certification for eco pleasant furnishings is managed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Many individuals bump into the FSC certification whereas searching for sustainable wooden furnishings. On this article, we clarify what it means to be FSC Licensed, why it isn’t the gold normal it is perceived to be, and what to search for as a substitute.
What’s the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an impartial, non-governmental, not-for-profit group that promotes accountable administration of the world’s forests. It’s broadly considered some of the essential initiatives to advertise accountable forest administration worldwide.
Launched by environmental teams in 1993, the FSC maintains a world normal for well-managed forests and a course of for monitoring and certifying wooden furnishings, flooring and different merchandise derived from these forests.
The FSC has achieved an incredible job over the past a number of a long time of pressuring giant, worldwide firms to wash up their provide chains, discouraging unlawful logging practices and different environmentally damaging sourcing ways.
What’s FSC Licensed Furnishings & Why is it so Costly?
FSC supplies some of the rigorous certification processes out there. It is broadly thought-about the gold normal in sustainable forestry and has moved the world ahead in lots of areas of rainforest conservation.
FSC certification for furnishings is an efficient indication that the furnishings has been independently evaluated and decided sustainable or eco-friendly, however what precisely does that imply?
The FSC label supplies certification of the chain of hyperlinks between the forest the place a product originates and the buyer. For instance with wooden furnishings, every of the next companies concerned in remodeling a tree into a chunk of furnishings must be FSC licensed to ensure that that furnishings piece to be FSC licensed:
- Licensed forest proprietor
- Licensed logger and sawyer
- Licensed lumber wholesaler
- Licensed lumber retailer
- Licensed furnishings maker
- Licensed furnishings retailer
For a vertically built-in furnishings firm, that may simply imply a single certification. However for small companies, it is troublesome to get every hyperlink within the provide chain to purchase in to the expense of changing into FSC licensed.
The place the FSC Falls Quick in Selling Sustainable Practices
Critics of the FSC say that it is a pay-to-play greenwashing tactic that does not really implement sustainable requirements. They level to giant firms with questionable enterprise practices being licensed by the FSC as proof that though the intent of the FSC is pure, it’s falling wanting its targets of building excessive requirements for sustainability.
As you may anticipate, FSC certification entails in depth rule-making and auditing that may be fairly costly to implement. It could actually add as much as 35% to the worth of the top product, though the hope is that this price will lower as FSC certification turns into extra mainstream. Nonetheless, many small producers are unable to imagine this price and are thus not FSC licensed.
One other problem for FSC is the rampant counterfeiting of FSC documentation accompanying uncooked lumber that’s being illegally clear reduce from the Amazon and different endangered areas of rainforest. Additionally FSC has been criticized by sure environmental teams as being too lenient, notably with their coverage permitting restricted previous progress logging.
In recent times, nevertheless the FSC has been beneath fireplace from conservation teams like Rainforest Reduction and Ecological Web for alleged lax efficiency and for certification of the logging of historical, old-growth, major rainforests. They criticize FSC for certifying the harvest of historical bushes (typically 500 years previous or extra) in Brazil’s Amazon forest and in different ecologically delicate rainforests habitats around the globe. In what may very well be an impending domino impact, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation just lately resigned from FSC after making a number of formal complaints that FSC failed to handle, concerning FSC licensed logging of Swedish previous progress forests.
Different Requirements for Sustainability within the Furnishings Trade
Eco acutely aware prospects are starting to query the integrity of FSC certification of eco-friendly wooden furnishings and different forest merchandise. An increasing number of customers who’re involved about the place their wooden furnishings comes from are questioning if FSC certification is sufficient. The priority has advanced right into a motion in the direction of shopping for American made furnishings that’s constructed with sustainably-harvested wooden from well-managed, home forests.
Supporters of the sustainable American-made furnishings motion favor using American wooden (whether or not it’s FSC licensed or not) over using imported FSC licensed wooden. They notice that in 2008 the quantity of American hardwoods was 90 % bigger than it was 50 years in the past together with the truth that practically twice as a lot hardwood grows in USA forest lands than is harvested yearly. These statistics make an announcement concerning the sustainability of wooden furnishings that originates in American forests that goes far past the factors FSC has laid out for FSC licensed wooden furnishings.
A number of the different standards you’ll be able to search for to find out if furnishings is coming from sustainable sources embrace:
- The Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC)
- 1% for the Planet
- Wooden Furnishings Scorecard (SFC x Nationwide Wildlife Federation)
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative
On the whole, if furnishings is made within the US with domestically sourced supplies, it is most likely extra sustainable than most furnishings that is FSC licensed.
What is the Distinction Between the FSC and the SFC?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC) are sometimes confused amongst customers, and it is easy to see why.
In contrast to the Forest Stewardship Council, which is an impartial, world group, the Sustainable Furnishings Council is a coalition of furnishings producers, designers, and retailers “devoted to elevating consciousness and increasing the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices throughout the house furnishings trade.”
We had been one of many “
Founding Members” of the Sustainable Furnishings Council in 2006, together with a pair dozen different American furnishings firms. SFC members help the triple backside line and lead the trade in finest practices all through their provide chains. Members are dedicated to steady work towards a wholesome future, inside and outside.
In the event you’re out there for furnishings that displays your values—not simply design however substance—then look past the label. Search furnishings product of real hardwood, crafted by expert artisans, and with a dedication to sustainability that goes deeper than a certification. At Vermont Woods Studios, we invite you to discover our assortment of strong‑wooden, sustainably‑sourced, American‑made furnishings that we stand behind for a lifetime of use.
