Is Your Wood Furniture Brought to You by Organized Crime?

Organized crime is currently responsible for an unprecedented rate of rainforest destruction. Unchecked illegal logging is rampant in tropical countries too poor to effectively monitor and enforce conservation regulations. You can help save the rainforest by avoiding the purchase of imported forest products like wood furniture and flooring.

Forest conservation is at the heart of our mission at Vermont Woods Studios and we're always trying to raise awareness about where your wood furniture comes from. If you're committed to buying American made furniture-- no worries. Chances are it's made from legal wood, sustainably harvested from well-managed forests right here in North America.
But if you're buying imported wood furniture (70% of furniture sold in America is imported) then: Houston, we have a problem.
A recent Washington Post article by Brad Plumer entitled Organized Crime is Getting Rich Cutting Down the Rainforest describes how the illegal logging trade has become just as lucrative (and far more destructive) than the drug-trafficking industry. 50 to 90 percent of forestry in tropical areas is now controlled by criminal groups! "A great deal of logging simply takes place illegally — much of it in tropical areas such as the Amazon Basin, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia." (ref: United Nations and Interpol)
The U.N. estimates that illicit logging is now worth between $30 billion to $100 billion, or up to 30 percent of the global wood trade. That illegal wood is often shipped from pristine rainforests to China, Vietnam and other third world countries where it's fabricated into low quality furniture which is sold to US consumers. We've written quite a bit about the links between rainforest destruction, global warming and the furniture and flooring you choose for your home:

• Blog posts on rainforest conservation and protection of endangered species of the forest
• Tiger Conservation, Rainforest Preservation and Your Furniture
• Forest Conservation is About More than Trees
• Saving The Rainforest: Why Green Consumerism Is Key
• And lots more

If you're considering buying furniture at IKEA, Home Depot or any big box store... ask where the lumber originates and let us know what you find on our Facebook or in the comments section below. Then re-discover sustainable, American made wood furniture and join us in feeling good about your furniture and your green home.