Forests Destroyed in China's Race to Sell Floors and Furniture
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04. 4.07
We have discussed the evils of teak, the provenance of bamboo, the question of merbau. The Washington Post has completed a year long investigation following lumber from the Asian forests to IKEA that is a must read for any TreeHugger. Complete with photo essays and great graphics, it describes how "Every day huge volumes of logs, many of them harvested illegally, stream toward Chinese factories where workers churn out products such as furniture and floorboards. These wares are shipped to major retailers like Ikea and Home Depot, and are bought by shoppers with little inkling of the wood's origins."
Time to think about :: local sustainable furniture and read ::Washington Post
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Only 6% of the carrots grown in the United States are certified organic. Is it therefore certain that the carrot juice you purchased at Whole Foods is 94% not organic? Absolutely not. Whole Foods only buys the certified organic. The mean is not indicative of the individual.
To infer that IKEA's wood is logged illegally, which could mean as little as the harvesting company evaded taxes, because they buy from regions that may experience up to (not precisely) 50% illegal activity, is as fallacious as the first association.
It is tragic that the Washington Post would attempt to damage the reputations of an improving nation and corporation whose practices are the hallmark of ethics and environmentalism through innuendo, and somewhat disappointing to find it parroted on treehugger.com.
GJD - What evidence do you base your assertion on? I'm more inclined to trust the Post's journalism than your unsubstantiated claims. It's not to say everything that IKEA does is bad, efficient packaging comes to mind, but maybe, just maybe, they could be more conscious of where they source their wood.
Otherwise, your post sounds like your job title at IKEA is PR Lackey.
Thanks for this informative article!
I think lots of people just have rudimentary info ( such as bamboo being a green alternative to wood floors) but are unaware that there are still possible loopholes/shady methods in which the green factor can be decreased or nullified.