Should a Furniture Store Care?
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.
Why Care About Endangered Species?
Aside from the beauty and wonder of other animals like the Siberian tiger or the orangutan, we know that we simply can't live alone on this earth. Right now, scientists estimate there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals living with us. Every day, up to 150 species go extinct. You may remember seeing the tears shed in Africa recently when the last Western black rhino died. Besides the emotional sadness we feel when we lose an iconic species, there is the knowledge that we are all part of an interconnected web of life, delicately balanced and dependent on each other for survival.
Tigers are my favorite animals but there are only 3,890 wild tigers left because their forest habitat is being destroyed. You can help save the tiger by purchasing forest-friendly products.
Over the last 20 years, monarch butterfly populations have fallen by more than 80 percent. At Vermont Woods Studios, we work to conserve monarch habitat both here in Vermont (where we plant milkweed and nectar flowers) and in Mexico, where we plant trees for the butterflies to over-winter in.
When you purchase furniture from Vermont Woods Studios, 1% of your purchase is deployed to plant trees and restore vulnerable wildlife habitats. Alongside our partners at Forests for Monarchs, we have planted almost 150,000 trees.
Together We Can Save Endangered Species
We can help save important species from extinction, even just by the choices we make at the cash register. LN Smith said, "every dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of world you want to leave to your children and grandchildren." Whether you're shopping for furniture or food or whatever else you fancy, you can make a difference with every dollar you spend.