Buy recycled timber
Your best option is recycled boards. Some new plantation hardwood timbers take up to 100 years to grow, so recycled boards are a more sustainable choice. It's also an opportunity to floor with rare hardwoods that are difficult to buy now; however, they are in short supply and may cost more than plantation-grown timber. Recycled timber can be sourced from companies that specialise in reclaimed floorboards. Also, look for boards being sold from demolished buildings.
Look for FSC-certified
The next best option is certified sustainable timber. Major environmental groups recommend the global eco-label FSC, which has representatives from the ACF, The Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth and Fauna & Flora International. FSC is an internationally recognised accreditation program created in the early 1990s to prevent logging of high conservation-value forests around the world. This interactive database on the FSC website allows you to search for certified products. Whether from a plantation or a native forest, FSC-certified means the timber is from a sustainably managed forest. You can find a range of timber from Australia and overseas with the FSC logo from stores such as Bunnings. Gunns Ltd, Australia's largest forest products company, has recently indicated it will seek FSC certification for the bulk of its managed native forest and plantation estate.
Australian Forestry Standard (AFS)-certified
Like the FSC, timber from Australian Forestry Standard (AFS)-certified forests adheres to sustainable principles. The AFS is recognised by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Scheme (PEFC), a global eco-label based in Europe, as well as being an Australian registered standard. While the AFS has federal and state government endorsement, however, groups like the Australian Conservation Foundation have reservations about the AFS scheme. Lindsay Hesketh, ACF’s Forests Campaigner and FSC board member, says the AFS has no on-ground certification. “It’s just desktop certification that systems are in place to do certain things. No-one actually goes to check that what is said to be happening is actually happening,” he told CHOICE. Hesketh believes the global PEFC label also lacks on-ground auditing and stakeholder engagement, in contrast with the FSC system, where on-site forest audits happen every 12 months.
Ecospecifier's "Green tag"
Ecospecifier, an online database of eco products, has launched “Green Tag”, a new eco-label for green building materials and products. The label will appear on all types of sustainable building products found in hardware stores or building supply centres, and will rate them according to their total life cycle. The rating will include health and toxicity issues of products, embodied carbon, biodiversity impacts, efficiency of building and installation, and corporate social responsibility. The Green Tag label will appear on shelves towards the end of 2010.
Good Environmental Choice Australia
The Good Environmental Choice Label is an Australian environmental labelling program that indicates the environmental performance of a product from a whole of product life perspective. The label is awarded to products that meet voluntary environmental performance standards that have been created and assessed in conformance to international environmental labelling standards. Search the Good Environmental Choice Australia database to see what products have achieved certification.
Beware false claims
Look out for products with multiple wood layers or components, only some of which are certified with the FSC or another eco-label. Engineered timber floorboards, for example, can have a timber veneer and plywood underneath, but not all components are from certified sources. Read the certification details carefully and ask the supplier to confirm the total product is fully certified. Watch out too for false eco-labels or other green claims. Some retailers develop their own eco-labels – for example “certified plantation rainforest timber” – which have absolutely no substance or proof of any environmental benefits.
Your best approach is to ask the supplier to show proof of certification, and to purchase products clearly marked with the [appropriate] eco-label logos. If you’re employing a builder to buy on your behalf, make sure they consult the lists of certified timber suppliers on the websites of FSC, AFS, Greenpeace and Ecospecifier.
Good timbers include:
• Rubberwood from old rubber trees
• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified or Ecotimber New Guinea teak
• FSC-plantation eucalypt and bamboo, and FSC or Ecotimber taun (a type of large hardwood).
Timbers to avoid include:
• Burmese teak
• African mahogany
• Merbau
• Ramin
• Meranti