Jul 19 2007
Consumers looking to green up their patios with sustainable garden furniture have more products to choose from, but still face challenges finding them in stores, according to a new survey of major outdoor furniture retailers by the National Wildlife Federation.
Crate & Barrel and Pier 1 Imports scored highest in the National Wildlife Federation’s first annual scorecard of major retailers of wooden garden furniture. Wal-Mart, Restoration Hardware and Smith & Hawken came in at the bottom of the list. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, responded to the NWF survey indicating it does not currently offer any sustainable wood garden products. Restoration Hardware and Smith & Hawken declined to participate in the survey.
The U.S. is the world’s largest single importer of wooden furniture from tropical timber-producing countries. Garden furniture represents about one-fifth of the wooden furniture market. U.S. imports of all tropical wood products have increased four-fold over the past decade. As a result, the once biologically rich forests of countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil, are being depleted at an unprecedented rate.
“Deforestation, especially in tropical forests, accounts for approximately one quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions as well as the rapid disappearance of the world’s remaining natural forest habitats,” said Eric Palola, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s wildlife restoration campaign. “The good news is more and more retailers are offering wooden garden furniture made from sustainably-harvested forests. The bad news is retailers don’t always make them easy to find.”
Several species of neo-tropical birds that summer in the U.S. and Canada depend on threatened tropical forests in Latin America. A major cause of deforestation is the legal and illegal logging of remaining primary forests to meet the global appetite for tropical wood products.
At current rates of deforestation, the remaining biodiversity-rich natural forests in countries such as Indonesia, Burma, Ecuador, Columbia, Guyana, and the Democratic Republic of Congo are expected to disappear within a decade.
Stacy Brown, forest certification coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, recommends that consumers look for and ask for products with a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo, which means the wood is traceable to a sustainably-managed forest.
“Buying FSC-certified garden furniture helps support sustainable forest management, which reduces the emission of greenhouse gases and protects wildlife habitat,” Brown said. “Similar to the rapid expansion in the organic food market which led to dramatic shifts in the agriculture industry, we can help change the forest products industry by voicing our preferences through our pocketbooks.”
Specifying FSC assures that wildlife and forest ecosystems are conserved through rigorous ecological standards that are audited on an annual basis.
“We want consumers to know they can make a huge difference in the fate of the world’s forests by acting with their wallets. If buyers don’t ask for FSC-certified products, retailers won’t supply them,” Brown said. “And we want retailers to know that people are paying attention to which companies make it easiest to find sustainable products. Vague public relations assurances—now found on many wood and paper products-- are not enough, and in many cases amount to ‘greenwashing.’”
According to the survey, Crate & Barrel and Pier 1 Imports currently offer the largest selection of FSC-certified garden furniture compared to their total wooden outdoor furniture offerings. Both companies clearly identify FSC-certified products in their catalogs and online. Both companies also make sustainable forest management an important criterion for selecting product offerings.
Conversely, Wal-Mart offers no FSC-certified products. Smith & Hawken and Restoration Hardware declined to participate in the survey.
“Without providing information on their products, Smith & Hawken and Restoration Hardware make it difficult if not impossible for buyers to be sure their purchases support wildlife and sustainable forestry,” Brown said.
Of the 13 retailers surveyed, Target, Sears, Pottery Barn, Kmart and Frontgate have limited offerings (up to 35 percent) of wooden outdoor furniture that is FSC-certified or sources from forests working toward FSC certification.
The Home Depot, Lowe’s and IKEA have a moderate range of offerings (36-70 percent) of wooden outdoor furniture that is FSC-certified or sources from forests working toward FSC certification.
“Garden furniture, like any home product, is an investment. We want that investment to benefit wildlife and people,” Palola said.
NWF plans to conduct annual surveys of major outdoor furniture retailers to track the progress of making FSC-certified products available to consumers.