Happy Arbor Day!
If you visit our sustainable furniture store, one of the first things you'll notice is our commitment to forest conservation. As wood furniture makers we're mindful of our impact on nature. In the early days, that meant raising funds for The Nature Conservancy's Plant a Billion Trees program. Then customers told us they'd like to see sustainable forestry in action & understand where their furniture comes from. Living in rural Vermont made it possible to relocate the business to a 100 acre woodland where we could actively demonstrate proper forest conservation.
At Vermont Woods Studios we're nature lovers, idealists, world travelers and outdoor enthusiasts. We want to help save our state butterfly by restoring it's habitat- both here in VT and in the Mexican forest where it over-winters. We've partnered with the non-profit, Forests for Monarchs FFM to plant at least 2 trees for every customer's order. So far we've planted over 55,000 trees! Here's why:
The Environment Is Important To Our Customers
Our customers have many options as to where they buy their furniture. Often times they tell us that when it comes to the final decision, with all else being equal, they are looking for an environmentally responsible company. We are trying to live up to that.
Mike, Nina & I are planting milkweed to replenish the monarch's summer habitat and food supply.
These monarchs are huddled together in their winter habitat in Mexico. After seeing them in person and meeting the folks at Forests for Monarchs, I agreed to volunteer my time to serve as Vice President of the non-profit. We're working to re-plant monarch habitat that's been destroyed by illegal logging.
Businesses Have a Responsibility to Make the World a Better Place
Margaret Mead said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Well, changing the world is a little hard to get our arms around but we can change a little part of it. We think all businesses can.
Help Us Help Monarchs
Plant a tree in the Monarch's winter habitat or stop by our sustainable furniture store. We'll show how you can help keep the monarch butterfly species alive. If you're not in the neighborhood, check out some of our blogs:
- Reforesting Monarch Butterfly Habitat in Mexico
- Monarchs & the Milkweed Symposium
- 2016 Monarch Butterfly Tour: A Trip Report
- How To Plant Milkweed for Monarchs