FSC Certified Wood Components

As you have been browsing the website, some of you may have noticed that our list of wood types has changed. The wood types are now broken down into groups. The "Traditional" and "Premium" selections are relatively easy to discern: Traditional includes both commonly used woods and paint grade woods, where the Premium includes the rare wood types and also higher quality stain grade woods. The third category that is available for select products, though, might not be as instantly recognizable: FSC Certified.

For some of our customers, FSC Certified lumber is something long requested, but we realize that many of you may not be as familiar with exactly what FSC Certification is. What does it tell you about the product?

FSC, first of all, stands for the Forestry Stewardship Council. It is a non-profit group whose purpose is to promote and encourage responsible management of the world's forests. Primarily, the purpose of the organization centered around certifying producers of lumber, and these types of certification are often referred to as F.M. (Forestry Management). However, the FSC also has a chain of custody (COC) certification, to ensure the high standards that the FSC puts forth are followed all the way down the line to its sale to an end user. Basically, at every step along the way a company or handler of products must show that they are meeting these standards, or they are not allowed to use the FSC name or logo. This prevents the use and promotion of products as "FSC Certified," unless at every point on the chain, these requirements are met. If even one handler of goods along the chain is not FSC certified, then the end-product is not, either.

The FSC does not actually issue certification itself. Instead, the FSC has accredited certain third party groups to do inspections and issue certification. This allows the FSC to keep its independent status. There are four groups in the US which may issue certification, and the list of requirements is quite specific:

• Documentation of all the suppliers of lumber being certified are themselves FSC certified.
• On-site inspection in which it is clear that anything FSC certified is kept distinct from all products that are not, where the two would not be accidentally mixed up.
• Additional documentation is required that shows any person handling FSC certified products has been thoroughly trained in FSC processes and procedures.
• All of the procedures for handling FSC certified products must be thoroughly documented in the form of a manual.
• Annual audits are performed to ensure that these procedures are being consistently followed.

These criteria, though stringent, prevent what is commonly referred to as "greenwashing," or exaggerated claims of "green" or "eco-friendly" products which are not backed by any evidence. As a sense of responsibility for how we treat the planet has grown, marketing groups have of course caught on and tried to "angle" things to appeal to that audience. FSC Certification prevents this "angling," by ensuring that nothing can be called "FSC Certified" unless it meets every one of their requirements, and has met those requirements at every step in the journey from raw material to finished product.

So, when you order products from Osborne Wood Products in an FSC Certified wood type, you can know that you are ordering wood that - from the moment it stood in the forest to the moment it is shipped from our facility - has been harvested, milled, and assembled in ways that promote reforestation and responsible forest stewardship, and are generally eco-friendly.

Osborne Wood Products, Inc. is pleased and proud to be able to offer options to our customers; enabling them to choose products with ecological responsibility in mind.