We offset our carbon footprint via Ecologi

We believe that it is good to want to do better, We want tables that are sturdy, high quality, and aesthetically pleasing but in today’s days also environmentally friendly. Therefore, having an environmentally focused vision seems to be a step in the right direction. We recognise that it is important for us to reduce our impact on the environment and have some sustainable development goals.

As part of our climate positive goals, it’s important to know where the wood that we source originates from. The oak that we obtain comes from countries that have laws in place to monitor the conditions of their forests and their environment. We support sustainable forestry, our Oak comes only from State Forests managed by the state forest holding managements who are able to monitor any changes thanks to their annual updates on the forest area and timber resources. The volume of timber harvest is then determined so that the permitted cut is lower than the growth of timber maintaining it within the limits of the productive function of the forest. This ensures that we don’t source Oak from countries where Oak is deemed to be declining. In fact, Oak is declared to be a plentiful and dominant species by the State Forest Management. So dominant that broadleaved stands in the State Forests increased from 13% to more than 28.2% in the years 1945-2014. Also Since 1990, European forests have been cut at a slower pace than they have grown demonstrating that forest resources are being used sustainably.

The forests we support do not practice monoculture anymore which was previously cultivated due to the increasing industrial demands for timber. Instead, they now support mixed-species cultivation, they align the species composition of stands to those occurring naturally in a particular area. This is positive as it has been found that forests with species mixture are more resistant to climatic factors and increase carbon sequestration. This is beneficial for the environment.

We are happy to work with wood as the physical features of wood make it the most natural and environmentally friendly material due to its high recyclability, renewability, and high availability. This makes wood a crucial material for a sustainable and environmentally friendly future. The world is looking for strategies that can control emissions, through not only decreasing emissions but finding ways that might have a storage potential, and luckily wooden furniture is one of these options. Living trees absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide but wooden furniture works as a storage of carbon dioxide; trapping it out of the atmosphere. On the whole, this shows the relevance of wooden furniture in mitigating climate change.

However, our role in being sustainable and environmentally friendly doesn’t stop at making wooden furniture. From January 2022 we have subscribed to Ecologi an environmental organisation that is supporting the world’s most impactful climate solutions and carbon reduction projects. Our subscription plan helps to plant at least 12 trees per month whilst creating employment for local families. These planted trees will go on to sequester carbon dioxide and help to restore wildlife habitats.

Subscribing to ecology and taking climate positive steps are all part of our climate-positive journey and we hope that the steps we have taken will make a difference. We hope that this offers some transparency and clarity to our Customers.

As our business grows, so will our climate-positive impact. By choosing us you are using a product that is highly sustainable. Our customers are a huge part of our climate-positive journey and by supporting us you are supporting Ecologi. Thank you!

You can view our digital forest here: Ecologi- AM Wood Craft. This will show you how our funds are being used, how many trees we have planted, and what projects we are helping to fund. This will also help you to keep up to date with AM Woodcraft’s Sustainability goals and the next steps we are taking to becoming a low-carbon business. 

 

Credit:

Liu, C., Kuchma, O. and Krutovsky, K., 2018. Mixed-species versus monocultures in plantation forestry: Development, benefits, ecosystem services and perspectives for the future. Global Ecology and Conservation, 15, p.e00419.
Forest Research Institute, 2017. Annual report on the conditions of Forests. Forests in Poland 2017. [online] Directorate-General of the State Forests and Ministry of Environment. Available at:
https://www.lasy.gov.pl/pl/informacje/publikacje/in-english/forests-in-poland/lasy-w-polsce-2017-en.pdf>.
European Environment Agency. 2018. Forest Utilisation. [online] Available at: <https://www.eea.europa.eu/airs/2018/natural-capital/forest-utilisation>
Negro, F. and Bergman, R., 2019. Carbon stored by furnishing wood-based products: An Italian case study. Maderas. Ciencia y tecnología, (ahead), pp.0-0.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2022. Wood products mitigate less than one percent of global carbon emissions. [online] Available at: <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190701163837.htm> .
StateForests. 2022. Forest use. [online] Available at: <https://www.lasy.gov.pl/en/our-work/forest-use> .
StateForest. 2017. Forest resources. [online] Available at: <https://www.lasy.gov.pl/en/our-work/forest-resources>.
University of Zurich, 2018. Species-rich forests store twice as much carbon as monocultures. [online] Available at: <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/10/181004143905.htm> [Accessed 20 January 2022].
For information about State forest Certification see: StateForest. 2019. Certification. [online] Available at: <https://www.lasy.gov.pl/en/our-work/certification>