8 Environmental & Climate-Related Non-Profits to Donate To

Earth Day

At Vermont Woods Studios, we believe that businesses and individuals alike have a responsibility to not only care for their environment, but take proactive steps to have a positive impact on the earth. That’s why we’ve made such a strong commitment to sustainability. We source all our materials responsibly, everything we sell is made in the USA and built to last, we plant trees, and we steward a 109 acre forest at our headquarters in Southern Vermont. On top of that, we’re also now a member of 1% for the planet.

As part of our commitment to One Percent for the Planet, we allocate 1% of our revenue to support environmental causes. Most of that 1% is direct cash donations to approved environmental non profits. Here are some of our favorites:

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Welcoming Back Monarch Butterflies to Vermont

Last updated on August 4th, 2022 at 04:36 pm

Salesperson Alex with a butterfly taking cover from the rain, last summer

Each spring, Monarch Butterflies return to North America from their winter habitat. You may know about our tree-planting partnership with Forest for Monarchs in Michoacan, Mexico, but Monarchs need our support here in Vermont, too.

Milkweed is the host plant of the Monarch Butterfly. Mature Monarchs lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves of the plant, and larval caterpillars rely on the plant for the entirety of their diet at this stage of life.

Founder and CEO Peggy Farabaugh harvesting milkweed seed pods in the fall for spring sowing

Every year, we start milkweed seeds indoors, and also direct-sow them outdoors, in order to support the Monarchs. This year, we are also starting milkweed plants in small cells we have made out of rolled newspaper for ease of distributing them to the community. If these plants are to make a comeback in southern Vermont, they will need to be planted more broadly than just our 109 acres.

 

Salesperson Sean Henry separating milkweed plant starts from a tray of seedlings

Many in our small town of Vernon, Vermont have said that the milkweed plants which return every year will be the lasting legacy of founder and CEO Peggy Farabaugh. We are so proud of her!

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Stonehurst Showroom’s Edible Landscape – Spring Has Sprung!

Last updated on April 22nd, 2022 at 04:19 pm

Enjoying our land on a dreary day

This year, we received a truckload of compost from a local rancher (the father of our fantastic intern Whitney—if you received a package of wood samples last year, she may have sent them to you). Tractor load by tractor load we are moving the compost to sunny spots on the property. Placing compost directly onto the grass eliminates the need for labor-intensive tilling.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

2021 Year in Review

Last updated on September 2nd, 2022 at 10:17 am

It’s that time of year again! Every year, we do a post detailing some of the important milestones, accomplishments, and projects we’ve completed here at Vermont Woods Studios. So without further ado…

The VWS Green Team
Nina took this picture of the VWS Green Team, including our new mates, Alex and Katrina. From left: Ken Farabaugh, Alexandra Chisholm, Michelle Rooks, Peggy Farabaugh, Sean Henry, Dennis Shanoff, Greg Augustine, Nina Markiw, Kelli Dobosz, Katrina Moore and Brian Doherty.

We Grew Our Team

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Triple Bottom Line Sustainability: People, Planet, & Prosperity

Last updated on July 2nd, 2022 at 10:24 am

Triple Bottom Line Sustainability: People, Planet, and Profits

The triple bottom line (“TBL” or “3BL”) is a framework that suggests that businesses should not only evaluate their success based on how much profit they’ve generated, but also based on how much impact they have on social and environmental causes.  The term was coined in the 90’s by John Elkington, a British business consultant and sustainability evangelist.

At Vermont Woods Studios, we have long been committed to sustainability. Much of the furniture sold in the U.S. today is imported from overseas and built with questionably sourced materials. The global timber trade driven by wood furniture and flooring is run by organized crime and has contributed to worldwide deforestation, especially in critical parts of the world like the Amazon and Borneo Rainforests. Since inception, we’ve been trying to raise awareness about the problems in this global supply chain and how it all contributes to climate change, human rights violations, species extinction, and more.

Our mission from the start was to decrease the demand for imported furniture by offering an alternative that was made in America with sustainable materials and built to last a lifetime. As we’ve grown our business, we’ve doubled down on our commitment to sustainability. We source all our materials responsibly, our products are made in the USA and built to last a lifetime, we work with non profit partners to combat climate change, and we steward a sustainably managed 109 acre working forest at our headquarters in Vermont.

So we thought we were doing pretty well. Then in 2020, our sustainability consultants Alex and Marina at Waste Free Earth introduced us to the concept of triple bottom line sustainability.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

16 Ways to Help #SaveTheMonarchs

Photo of several monarch butterflies, captured by Dr. Sue Sill

As you might have already heard, our founder Peggy is a big advocate for forest and species conservation. In 2005, after struggling to raise money for her non-profit Kids Saving the Planet, she decided to start a company driven by a mission to save endangered species by conserving their habitats. Lo and behold, the birth of Vermont Woods Studios!

One day, Peggy read about Jose Luis Alvarez and the work he was doing through Forests for Monarchs. After reading about his work, Peggy decided to reach out since they had aligned values in forest conservation and restoring the monarch butterfly. Since Vermont Woods Studios  is a mission driven company, Peggy felt a partnership with Jose and Forests For Monarchs (FFM) would amplify the message and work around the importance of conserving the monarchs. Years later, we are still putting in the hard work with Jose and his team to Save The Monarchs.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Investing in Our Future: Kids & Nature

Investing in our future: Kids and Nature
Every year Vermont Woods Studios sponsors an environmental field trip for the 3rd graders at our local Vernon Elementary School VES. We think it’s important to pass along our love of nature to the people who own our planet’s future. Our new friend, Keelin agrees!

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

2019 Highlights

Last updated on January 25th, 2020 at 08:48 am

Happy New Year! A look back at 2019 highlights & a salute to the future.
Here’s a look back at 2019 highlights & your impact on the work we do at Vermont Woods Studios. We are grateful for your support and we wish you the very best of good health and happiness in 2020.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Christmas in Our Home Town

Last updated on September 29th, 2022 at 08:16 pm

Vernon’s Giving Tree

The Giving Tree | Vernon, Vermont
Vermont Woods Studios is located in the tiny village of Vernon, Vermont (population 2141). Every December local volunteers set up a Giving Tree at the Town Hall.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

7 of the Best Architects in Vermont

Last updated on August 16th, 2021 at 12:52 pm

Interior Designer in Southern Vermont | Priscilla Cotton
Meet Southern Vermont’s favorite interior designer, Priscilla Cotton of Cotton Design in Newfane

We’ve often written about the rich history of craftsmanship in Vermont, but did you know this small state is also full of great architects, builders, and interior designers? Some of them even build furniture. In fact, there are many more that deserve to make this list.

Here’s a list of our favorite Vermont architects:

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.