by Also known as reclaimed wood, the materials are sourced from old buildings and old-growth trees on city streets
HIGH POINT — Visiting factories here and abroad over the years, one of the most visually impactful scenes is the amount of wood that’s stacked up waiting to be turned into furniture.
Much of this includes species ranging from poplar and rubberwood to more expensive varieties such as mahogany.
With tens of thousand of board feet waiting to be processed, the obvious question is how long will all these natural resources last?
Of course, some of the wood is sustainably harvested with trees replanted each year. These include trees that many of us will never live to see reach their full maturity.
But even with the replanting, the use of trees in everyday products from furniture to cabinetry and boards used in home construction is massive. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that Americans alone use 10 billion to 15 billion cubic feet — or roughly 100 million tons — of wood each year in wood and paper products along with wood used for energy. That translates into roughly 640 pounds of wood per person a year, which the USDA added amounts to 1.75 pounds per person a day.
In China, the annual wood consumption is even more staggering at 566 million cubic meters a year as of 2021, up from 500 million in 2011, according to Statistica. In addition to construction materials for China’s booming real estate sector, the wood is used for domestic consumption of cabinetry and flooring products, paper and furniture.
Thus, the sustainable planting and harvesting of trees is critical to protecting this vital resources not just for today, but for future generations. But so is the use of reclaimed woods that have found their way into countless furniture products over the years.
By reclaimed we mean woods salvaged from old barns and buildings, railroad ties, flooring and frames of old houses and more. Old-growth trees cut down in urban areas also are being used more and more, not just in furniture, but things like guitars and other musical instruments.
(Editor’s note: A fascinating video to watch is a “State of Ebony” interview with Bob Taylor, co-founder of Taylor Guitars, that reveals how the company has substantially increased the yield of ebony by using parts of the tree that were previously rejected by many musicians because of their streaked versus pitch-black coloration. Meanwhile, Taylor’s Urban Ash series of guitars are made from old-growth trees that are in need of removal in cities throughout Southern California.)
Getting back to furniture, it’s worth noting that Room & Board has an entire section of its website devoted to the Urban Wood Project, showcasing reclaimed woods from cities like Baltimore, Minneapolis, Detroit and New York as well as from states including California and Oregon, to name several key resources. Items include media and storage cabinets and consoles, as well as stools, cocktail and end tables and seating frames. The wood story in each case is dramatic, as items feature beautiful grain patterns and finishes that accentuate the selection and combinations of materials.
In its report on the most recent Urban Wood Academy project related to the use of old-growth trees in urban settings, the Sustainable Furnishings Council made the following comments about Room & Board’s sustainability efforts.
“Room & Board is a company that has embraced urban wood wholeheartedly,” the report said, noting that as a founding member of the SFC, the Minnesota-based retailer was invited to participate in the “proverbial urban wood table by the USDA Forestry Service in 2018 because of their commitment to sustainability and their willingness to innovate. They said yes to the experiment and incorporate urban wood and the lumber board-feet coming out of Baltimore row houses because they saw the potential for beautiful and unique furniture products while addressing some of the city’s socioeconomic issues.”
Quoting Emily McGarvey, director of sustainability at Room & Board, the report went on to note that in 2023 the retailer added New York to its Urban Wood cities that also now include Anaheim and Sacramento, California.
Of course, sustainability takes many forms and many other retailers, ranging from City Furniture and Arhaus to HOM Furniture and Jordan’s, also tout various sustainability stories on their websites.
Various wholesalers too are participating in various sustainability initiatives. These range from the replanting of trees by Bassett Furniture, Flexsteel and Vaughan-Bassett to the reuse of pallets and repurposing of wood chips and sawdust and recycling of plastic foam and packaging waste at Hooker Furnishings. Others still are taking an active role in sustainability through the use of recycled plastics that are used in anything from fabrics to outdoor seating frames.
These and other sustainability stories — including the re-use of urban woods — indeed are worth celebrating as they continue to emphasize the importance of protecting the planet and saving our natural resources now and for future generations.
