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      the environment

 

Barncrest’s Purchasing Policy.

Barncrest are aware that our future success and growth depends on the proper management of renewable resources. Therefore, it is our policy to source our timbers from suppliers that have certification showing they provide products from well managed forests. All of our European woods (Oak, Walnut, Beech and Cherry) are sourced from certificated and well managed forestry. Please visit our dedicated FSC page for full details.

Our Iroko timber is sourced from Africa where, at present, there are no sustainability programmes in operation. However, Barncrest is totally committed to purchasing all timber from legal sources and seeks evidence of compliance from suppliers that they are operating in accordance with the laws of their country.

Barncrest unreservedly condemns illegal logging practices and keeps informed of processes and changes in international legislation.  Wood is also protected under the convention on the 'Trade in Endangered Species' and Barncrest will not trade in any timber species prohibited by the body.

We understand the temptation for our customers of buying wood at the cheapest price possible on the internet. But we ask you to consider both the eniromental impact of your descision and the reduced quality of the product you will end up with.

Barncrest Products.

All of our 'Butchers-Block' products are constructed using 40mmx40mm finger jointed staves of various lengths. These staves are produced from only the finest offcuts of larger furniture products - making the most environmentally efficient use of this wood.

Likewise, our Full-length and Wide-Stave products are constructed using Furniture-Grade wood components. The price for these is slightly more expensive due to a higher rejection rate (for knots, splits etc) when selecting the quality of the individual pieces.

Please also visit our Why Buy From Barncrest page for further details.

Barncrest’s Best Practices.

In addition to monitoring our suppliers for good environmental practice we are committed to continuous support for the environment in all of our business practices.

Over the last 18months we have employed the services of an independent environmental consultancy agency to lower our energy consumption and reduce our individual carbon footprint across all of our operations to their lowest level. Every aspect has been looked at and reformed. All of our staff have been involved and trained accordingly so that we now operate best practices for our heating, lighting, water and electricity consumption and recycling operations.

Over 80% of our business waste is now recycled. Including: wood chips and wood dust; paper; glass; metals; packaging and IT equipment. Additionally, our new extraction systems are self contained and therefore do not release any emissions to the air.

The environmental qualities of wood.

When looking at the impact the timber industry has on the environment it is worth highlighting the positive aspects of the use of wood compared to its alternatives:

  • Wood is renewable unlike mineral based products.
  • The amount of energy used to harvest, transport, convert and recycle wood is minimal compared with other materials, as over 75% of the energy used for manufacturing wood products is produced from wood residues and recovered wood. Therefore, using wood means you aren't using less environmentally friendly alternatives.
  • Wood has the lowest energy consumption and the lowest C02 emission of any commonly used building materials. For every cubic metre of wood used instead of other materials, 0.8 tonnes of CO2 is saved.
  • European forests are increasing annually by an area approximately the size of Cyprus. Between 1990 and 2000 the European forest area has grown by 30% and only 65% of this growth is actually harvested.
  • Using wood products encourages forestry to expand, which will increase the carbon sink effect and reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere. The best method of using forests as carbon sinks is to harvest the timber and convert it into products (which continue to store carbon) while replanting more trees than before.
  • As wood is created by photosynthesis, it can be considered an efficient way of storing solar energy. Recovering the energy from wood products at the end of their life, as a substitute for fossil fuels, increases wood's positive carbon effect.

    These facts and many more outlining the benefits of well-sourced timber products are available from the Wood for Good campaign website at www.woodforgood.com.
 

All of our advertised prices include 17.5% VAT.