| The word 'reclaimed' seems like one of those | | | | fifty percent of the world's forests are gone and |
| environmentally fashionable buzzwords that people | | | | wood consumption is increasing at a rate that could |
| use alongside 'reduce', 'reuse' and 'recycle'. But | | | | deforest the final untouched woodlands of the world |
| reclaimed furniture isn't just about projecting a | | | | before 2040. |
| shabby-chic image. It's also about responsible buying - | | | | People in the UK waste an awful lot of wood. |
| saving the wastage of millions of tonnes of timber that | | | | Although there is an absence of accurate data as for |
| could otherwise be reclaimed and reducing the need | | | | the total, but figures indicate that around four and a |
| for unethical logging companies around the world to | | | | half million tonnes of timber is wasted each year, left to |
| tear down more forests to fill cheap consumer | | | | rot in landfills or burnt. The best way to prevent this |
| furniture trends. So, buying reclaimed furniture can | | | | terrible waste is to re-use the timber. Approximately |
| make you look classy and still save the planet all at the | | | | one and a half million tonnes of waste timber is |
| same time! | | | | reclaimable. |
| With the global environmental consequences of | | | | At present, in the UK, when old buildings are |
| deforestation, more and more people are thinking | | | | demolished, the wood is saved to sell within the |
| about buying furniture made from reclaimed timber. | | | | increasing market for reclaimed timber beams, |
| Reclaimed furniture is aesthetically very appealing and | | | | floorboards and shelves. In the UK, the Directory of |
| its popularity has grown rapidly as eco-conscious | | | | Reclaimed Furniture Suppliers exists to promote |
| customers have invested in sustainability by buying | | | | companies that sell furniture that has been made from |
| bespoke reclaimed furniture. In the United Kingdom, | | | | old timber. The idea behind the directory is to ensure |
| there are a growing number of manufacturers that are | | | | that customers that want to find this type of furniture |
| making beautiful new bespoke furniture from reclaimed | | | | have access to it and don't have to go too far to |
| wood. | | | | locate it. The directory doesn't make any claims about |
| In the vast forests of South America, Russia and | | | | the quality of the company or its products, but |
| China, unregulated logging is taking place on an | | | | customers can always form their own opinions about |
| unprecedented scale. Whole areas of dense beautiful | | | | the quality of reclaimed materials when they visit the |
| forests are being destroyed, and the habit for | | | | companies. |
| woodland creatures decimated as greedy logging | | | | Illegal logging is an industry worth billions of pounds, by |
| companies leave the land barren and bleak in order to | | | | purchasing reclaimed wood products; you can |
| create cheap, mass produced furniture. | | | | decrease the demand for new wood, prevent the |
| Just under half of the Earth's land surface was once | | | | waste of millions of tonnes of used wood and impress |
| covered with lush, green forests. These days, about | | | | everyone with your stylish reclaimed timber furniture. |