FSC stands for “The Forest Stewardship Council”. FSC brings people together to find solutions to the problems created by bad forestry practices and to reward good forest management.
FSC-certified wood is wood that has been 3rd party certified under strict standards set by the FSC organization. FSC is an international network whose mission is to promote environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests.
The FSC is the most well respected third-party, forest certification in the world. It is supported by scientists, environmentalists, concerned citizens, governments and industry players.
FSC-certification is given to companies and landowners to verify that they practice forestry that is consistent with FSC standards. The FSC label on wood or paper products guarantees that consumers can trust the sources.
top ↑
Many manufacturers often make claims that their material comes from "managed" or "sustainable" forests. However without independent certification, you really have no way to really know if their claims are true. Increasingly, such claims are used as a marketing ploy to "greenwash" material that came from destructive forestry practices. Some certification bodies are even created by the forest industry to promote themselves. This seems like a conflict of interest to us.
Just because a wood product is "certified" does not mean that it comes from an ecologically-well managed and socially responsible forestry operation. For a certification to mean something is must have: a) strict environmental standards; b) enforcement mechanisms; and c) methods of tracking the wood through the supply chain – chain of custody - to prevent misrepresentation.
top ↑
What is chain of custody?
Chain of custody is the path taken by raw materials from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution.
Why buy FSC certified products?
The more we purchase FSC products the more manufacturers will spend to increase their environmental efforts.
Are all wood product from a certified company FSC certified?
Ideally, all products from participating companies would be FSC certified. However, due to the limited size of the FSC consumer market currently only a portion of production is FSC certified for most companies. To verify the FSC-certified status of a wood product, request the supplier's COC certificate. Also request an invoice or receipt detailing the FSC certified status of each product on an individual line-item basis. If the invoice's line-item doesn't say "FSC certified," the material is not FSC certified - no matter what the promotional information provided by the supplier might indicate.
What is sustainable forest management?
The FSC uses 10 strict principles and criteria to evaluate forest management These can be seen at: http://www.fsc.org/pc.html In brief: sustainable forestry means that the forests have been managed in a way that protects the water, soil, plants and animals. In addition: local surrounding communities, indigenous peoples, forestry workers, landowners, industry and environmental groups have all agreed on how the forest should be managed.
top ↑
From a customer’s perspective, the FSC label represents a promise that is being made to them. Chain of custody standards are the mechanism FSC has to ensure that 'promise' is delivered.
FSC has accredited independent third-party certifiers around the world to evaluate forest management against these principles and criteria. Our flooring is certified by North America’s leading certifier: Scientific Certification Systems and the Rainforest Alliance’s Smartwood Program.
top ↑