Eco-Friendly: reasons 47 - 55

Wood is not only beautiful varied in all kind of products; as trees - forests - wood is a beautiful natural recreation source. Most importantly is the fact that forests act as a giant carbon sink.

Trees are nature's way of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing the oxygen we breathe. Planting trees can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and using wood products can help slow the growth of Global Warming.
The more wood we use, the more our forests grow: thanks to sustainable forest management more trees are planted than are harvested - every year European forests grow by an area the size of Cyprus!
The more the forests grow, the more carbon dioxide is sucked out of the atmosphere, the more oxygen is produced and the more wood is available to use; the more wood is used, the more trees are planted, the more the forests grow, the more.........

Modern forests, skilfully managed, contain trees of different ages, different species alongside the primary production species. Open spaces in the form of rides, firebreaks and stream side reserves are designed into the forest and, as it is thinned, increasing numbers of under-storey species become established.
While producing timber, these man-made forests also produce picnic spots, lakes and nature trails. Thousands of species of birds, animals and plants call them home. Their air is clean and good to breathe.
The public has free access to 94% of forestland in Europe.

Every time you use wood you are helping to make sure the forests will keep growing. So your children and your children's children will be able to enjoy visiting forests for years and years to come.
(The market for forest products helps finance sustainable forest management.)

Using tropical wood also helps in the fight against tropical deforestation, as long as the wood comes from well-managed sources. However, if there were no markets for wood, forests would be cleared to grow other cash crops. For these societies, often desperate for income, a forest that pays is a forest that stays.

Wood You Like's tropical Duoplank comes from FSC certified forests and Oak used by most quality manufacturers is sourced from PEFC sources in Europe.
FSC = Forest Stewardship Council (1993)
PEFC: Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (1999)

FSC certified products have become a kind of "buzz word" for many retailers. However, genuine retailers selling genuine FSC products in their outlets need to be recognised among those who "talk the talk" but don't "walk the talk".
You need a guarantee the FSC labeled product you buy is genuine labeled.

This recognised guarantee can only be had by means of receiving an unique ID code for retailers from FSC UK.
In July 2008 Wood You Like received its unique code: FSC-GBR-1019

This unique ID-code guarantees you that the products we label FSC certified are genuine FSC certified and authorises Wood You Like to use the FSC-trademark. In order to receive this unique code any retailer selling to domestic clients has to prove their purchases really do come directly from a FSC-certified company/manufacturer.

One of the demands from the FSC and PEFC organisation is not just to sustain the forest, but also the local communities in or around these forests. Duoplank manufacturer Inpa does just that:

"We support the Indian community, named Cururu, of thirty families intensely. For instance, we teach them how to use machinery and felling of trees. Based on a sustainable method of course, in order for them to create an income from the forest without destroying it. The wood they sell from it is sub-tropical and can be used for furniture and flooring. The standard FSC-regulations are for this project adjusted on one point: the Indians are still allowed to hunt in the forest."

Inpa Parket joint FSC-The Netherlands in 1998 and has been active in Bolivia for longer.

"It has always been our desire to do something more for the local community. When we were offered a PSOM-subsidy for investments in developing countries we decided to start this project."

FSC and creating sustainable forests is on ongoing business. Life is "give and take". This rule applies more than ever in the 30,000 hectare FSC forest owned and managed by Inpa in Bolivia.

"Put everything back into the forest what you have taken out. Call upon the services of the local inhabitants, but give them their due. Show respect for all forms of life in and around the forest."

This is the philosophy which J. Roosenboom, founder of the Dutch company, believed in 20 years ago and implemented his philosophy with reforestation projects in Paraguay.

In 2001 the company bought its own forest in Bolivia, South America. Sustainable management of the forest by the company is also the key to long-term operational management - in and around the forest. A fully self-supporting micro-economy has been created: the forest has its own road infrastructure, its own water and energy suppliers, not only benefiting the company and the forest but also the local residents, who are closely involved in the project.

Managing a forest of 30,000 hectare is no sinecure. The surface area is roughly the same amount as 60,000 football pitches.

Reforestation should be on everyone's mind who is dealing/working with wood. Sustained forests are the only way forward, economically and environmentally. More and more governments, producers and organisations realise that a "Forest that pays, stays", and not just tropical forests. Examples: The Netherlands and Belgium combined have 115,000 ha of FSC certified forests and plantations (production forests), The U.K. 1,693,000 ha beginning 2007.
And more and more organisations/customers demand that wood used in projects (building projects, flooring projects) comes from sustained forests.

More and more manufacturers are producing wood-engineered floors - with a solid wood top layer between 2 - 6mm thick on a cross-layerd backing of softer wood species - instead of the solid 20mm floorboards or wood blocks. Once installed the wood-engineered floor will look exactly the same as a traditional solid floor but has many more benefits.

When you combine this traditional appearance with the modern construction of thick wood-engineered boards - a 6mm Solid Oak top-layer on 15mm water-resistant-plywood (like our Duoplank range) it opens up a whole new world: tradition with ultimate stability, durability with eco-friendliness.

Did you know that 5.5 cubic meter Oak trunks can produce 95 sq m of Solid Oak floorboards 20mm thick and that the same cubic meters will produce an amazing 450 sq m of Solid Oak top-layer of 6mm thick - almost 5 times as much! - or around 750 sq m of standard wood-engineered floors with a top-layer of 3 - 4mm thick. Almost 8 times as much!

The choice between solid or wood-engineered floorboards is an easy one.