Woodworker's Journal 2008-32-2, страница 24

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How "Green" is Your Woodworking?

By Joanna Werch Takes

• 40% of woodworkers believe that woodworking has very little impact on the environment.

• Most woodworkers don't consider the environment when making a tool purchase.

• 85% of woodworkers say that they dispose of their hazardous chemicals properly.

When we asked woodworkers "Is your choice of lumber for upcoming projects influenced by how sustainably ifs harvested": 50% said the concept was "somewhat important," 40% said "not important," and only 9% said it was "very important."

What turns out to be important in choosing lumber, in order of the rankings survey respondents gave, is: appearance (grain, figure, color); availability; price; and (in last place) harvesting methods.

When asked "Do you feel existing certification processes and their logo-markings give you enough information to make green decisions in lumber purchases?" Almost 60% of respondents said "I don't know anything about this. (The balance were evenly split between yes and no.)

When they did know the difference, 54% said they'd be willing to pay more for lumber that is harvested in an environmentally sustainable way (versus 46% who would not). However, 87% reported that they have not asked a new supplier how their lumber was harvested, while 59% say they have purchased reclaimed or recycled lumber.

How much difference does all of this really make? 40% of respondents to the question "How much impact on the environment do you feel harvesting lumber for woodworking has?" said "very little impact." Only 4% thought it had a very large impact, and 29% thought it was significant.

Shop Talk continues on page 26 ...

24 April 2008 Woodworker's Journal

Would you be willing to pay more

for lumber harvested in an environmentally sustainable way?

• 54% of woodworkers said they would be willing to pay more for lumber harvested in a sustainable manner (unfortunately, 87% of them don't really know how their lumber is harvested).

Before you buy lumber from a new supplier, do you ever ask how the lumber was harvested?

And Does it Make a Difference?

The growing popularity of the "Green" movement in the building trades is well documented. In fact, last year it was proclaimed as the main theme of the International Builder's Show.

But how do woodworkers feel? The Journal recently asked our online woodworking survey group (more than 3,000 woodworkers responded) a range of questions centered on the concept of "green woodworking."

Our survey defined green as "personally acting in an environmentally responsible manner."

When asked "Is the concept of being green something that affects your overall decisionmaking and actions?" 25% of respondents said no, 21% said yes and another 52% said "sometimes."

Survey Results

Following are some of the key findings from our survey: • Sustainably harvested lumber is not high on the selection criteria of woodworkers we surveyed.

• More than half of those surveyed do not know about forest certification

programs.