By promoting environmentally friendly practices and providing a sustainable alternative for wood furniture buyers, we hope to do our part to help preserve and protect one of our planet’s more valuable resources.
Small businesses are made of big people like these craftsmen and women at Maple Corner Woodworks. We work to deliver beautiful handmade furniture to your home, but also to make the world a better place.
Yes! All furniture stores should care about endangered species and everyone working at a furniture store should receive training as to why. Your furniture is made with natural resources that are often taken illegally from the habitats of your favorite, iconic animals. Many of them, for example tigers, orangutans and chimpanzees are on the brink of extinction and they need our help. At Vermont Woods Studios, we use only sustainably harvested wood from well managed North American forests. We also plant trees in animal habitats that are suffering from illegal deforestation.
Remembering Those Who Sacrificed Everything for Us
Memorial Day is a time of remembrance, honoring those heroes who gave their lives in service to our country. The simple act of planting a tree can honor their legacy for generations.
These mature maple trees are among hundreds that grace the property where our furniture showroom lives in Southeastern Vermont. Every year at this time, we have thousands of maple seedlings that spring up, hoping to out-compete other plants on the property. This year we decided to nurture some of those seedlings for our customers and our community. We think there are infinite reasons to plant a tree, but Memorial Day seems particularly relevant.
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 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:
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.
We thought you’d like to know how your purchase at VWS is making a difference in this world. Here are a just few of the things our small but mighty team does to put your furniture investment to work in making the world a better place.
We’re Planting Trees
We plant at least 10 trees every time you place an order at Vermont Woods Studios. So far we’ve planted over 140,000 trees! At VWS we do our work for the forest, from the forest. Everything we do is for the good of the woods. Here’s why forest conservation and sustainability are important to us. Read More
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Over the past several years, as consumers have become more conscious of the impact their purchases can have on the world, third party certifications like Fair Trade and B Corporations have sprung up to help audit the supply chain and business practices of companies around the world. In the global wood furniture and flooring industry, the most well-known third party certification for eco friendly furniture is managed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Many people stumble upon the FSC certification while looking for sustainable wood furniture. In this article, we explain what it means to be FSC Certified, why it’s not the gold standard it’s perceived to be, and what to look for instead.
Our Skyline Panel Bed in Cherry with Walnut accents.
Being a sustainable company may be trendy now, but how do you know if what you’re buying is truly sustainable?
Our company was founded with the mission to save the rainforest. We are a wood furniture company that uses only sustainably harvested wood from North America. It’s been 17 years and we still guarantee that. Now it seems big name brands and celebrities are making claims of sustainability when they put their names on home goods. With so many products and brands now claiming sustainable practices, it may be hard to tell if the products you’re using really are eco-friendly.
From the beginning, we wanted to make Vermont Woods Studios part of the solution to climate change and deforestation. Since 2005, we have been encouraging consumers to understand where their furniture comes from and offering a more sustainable option.
Throughout our company’s history, we’ve always supported environmental nonprofits, but we wanted to develop a partnership where we could more clearly see how our dollars were being spent and maximize the impact of our donations.
Over the last several years, we’ve developed a strong partnership with La Cruz Habitat Protection Program (LCHPP, aka “Forests for Monarchs”), a small organization started by Jose Luis Alvarez in Michoacán, Mexico. Since their start in 1997, they’ve planted over 10 million trees.
Many non-profits offer to plant 1 tree for every dollar donated, but through our direct partnership with Forests for Monarchs, we’re able to plant two trees for every dollar. That’s twice as many trees!