Sustainable Furniture & Climate Change

Last updated on June 20th, 2019 at 11:45 am

Peggy & Ken Farabaugh | Vermont Woods Studios | Stonehurst Showroom
Ken and Peggy Farabaugh, co-owners of Vermont Woods Studios in Vernon, VT. Photo credit: Erica Housekeeper.

Thank You, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund VSJF

We have three important people to thank today:

They’re the journalists & tree-huggers who collaborated to write Fighting Climate Change One Rocking Chair at a Time: Vermont Woods Studios Makes a Case for Buying Local.  VSJF is a nonprofit that partners with state government, private sector businesses, and nonprofits to create a vibrant future for Vermont. We are grateful to them for recognizing the work we do to promote and sell Vermont’s sustainable furniture.

Our Stonehurst showroom is located on 109 acres of managed woodlands.
Our showroom is located on 109 acres of Vermont woodlands, managed by professional forester, Lynn Levine. Customers can hike the property to see the type of thriving forest their sustainable furniture originates in.

Addressing Climate Change in Vermont

VSJF is a key player in our state’s Climate Economy Initiative. They support initiatives like distributed/renewable energy, green building and recycling. VSJF also supports other sectors of our economy that influence climate change, including the furniture industry.

Sustainable Furniture | Vermont Woods Studios | Peggy Farabaugh
All of our furniture is handcrafted in Vermont using sustainably harvested hardwood. The floors & the bench I’m sitting on was made with local maple wood. The fireplace mantle behind me was crafted using local cherry.

 Global Furniture Industry & Climate Change

Wooden furniture is made from trees. Trees are being clear cut from the world’s rainforests at a frightening rate of 1.5 acres/second. The process is responsible for 20% of global warming. Furthermore, the timber produced goes into a market largely controlled by organized crime.  It is shipped to China and other developing countries where it’s made into cheap furniture for America’s online & big box stores. The furniture often ends up in a landfill within 5 years.

Sustainable Furniture from Vermont is Different

At Vermont Woods Studios, we offer an alternative.  Our furniture is made from 100% North American hardwoods and guaranteed for a lifetime. Our wood is usually grown in Vermont or within a 500 mile radius. Because Vermont’s forest growth to removal ratio is 2:1, we are growing twice as much wood as is annually harvested.

Jake Checani is our land steward and facilities manager.
Jake Checani is our land steward and facilities manager. He’s standing in front of a shed filled with 20 cords of oak, ash, birch and beech firewood that he personally cut, split and stacked on our property at Vermont Woods Studios. Photo credit: Erica Houskeeper

Each of us has more power than we think to fight against climate change. Each time we make a purchase we can consider where that product came from and how it affects our world. LN Smith said, “Every dollar you spend . . . or don’t spend . . . is a vote you cast for the world you want.”

Be The Change. Shop Sustainable Furniture Today!

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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.

Peggy Farabaugh

She is a CEO who brakes for salamanders, has bottle-fed rescued squirrels and spent her vacation building furniture for a rural school in Costa Rica. She believes in the future and in the people who will build it. A former distance-learning professor at Tulane University with a master’s in environmental health & safety, she turned an interest in forest conservation and endangered species into a growing, local business. She delivers rainforest statistics at breakneck speed, but knows how to slow down and appreciate the beauty of a newly finished piece of heirloom furniture.

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