Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 7, July 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Dunn Lumber to offer 'sustainable' wood products

By JAMES BUSH

How can a consumer tell the difference between wood produced by clear-cutting and similar wood produced through environmentally-sustainable forestry techniques?

Look for the FSC label.

The Dunn Lumber store in Wallingford now offers wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This international organization has certified more than 100 million acres of forests in 62 counties, holding producers to a strict set of regulations for managing, monitoring, and maintaining forests as wildlife habitat. These FSC standards also help forest owners preserve clean water, avoid serious forest fires, and maintain a steady supply of wood over time.

But simply making the wood available for purchase isn't enough, says Alex Morgan, conservation program director for the Seattle Audubon Society, a group based in North Seattle's Wedgwood neighborhood.

A six-month campaign to promote the availability of FSC-certified wood at Dunn Lumber (and SoDo's Environmental Home Center) is being mounted as a joint effort of Audubon, the Washington Environmental Council and the Northwest Natural Resource Group.

Dunn Lumber is taking a financial risk by agreeing to carry the products, says Morgan. "In exchange for that, we have agreed to reach out to our members and let them know."

Dunn Lumber spokeswoman Racine Snyder says the store has stocked FSC wood in the basic lines used by most builders: 2x4s, 2x6s, and half-inch plywood sheathing (trim moldings are also available). The FSC-certified hemlock currently in stock is a bit more expensive that comparable non-certified wood, although cheaper than higher-end woods such as spruce and pine.

Among the potential buyers of the certified wood are builders participating in the "Built Green" program of the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties. On Built Green projects, builders get points for various environmentally-friendly building practices and products, including the use of FSC certified wood.

Dunn Lumber sells other point-producing products, including engineered lumber (products that incorporate smaller pieces of wood to reduce waste), low volatile organic compound adhesives, and Trex and Weyerhaueser decking fashioned from wood dust and recycled plastic (it's not only environmentally-friendly, notes Snyder, but also outlasts regular wooden decking).

Morgan says that certified wood products haven't been consistently available in the Pacific Northwest, but that is changing as more producers sign on to the program.

Currently, the Fort Lewis military reservation produces enough FSC certified wood annually to build at least 400 three-bedroom homes. Northern Idaho's Potlatch Company recently became the largest private forestry company to gain certification.

About half of Washington's state-owned forests (whose revenues help fund schools) are are also certified.

Seattle seems like a good place to start in boosting demand for these products, adds Morgan. "It's been demonstrated that people here are conscious of the products they buy and want to make their dollar count toward products that are more sustainable," he says. The market for certified wood products "is growing and it's a market where there is certainly untapped potential."

Tom Geiger, outreach director for the Washington Environmental Council, says the biggest challenge is to make sure these products are readily available so that people who want to use them and find them conveniently.

In order to spur demand for FSC certified lumber, a dependable supply is needed, he says. "It's Economics 101."

Snyder, a Wedgwood resident hired 20 years ago as the first woman on the sales counter at Dunn Lumber, is a member of the company's Green Team. In addition to making available environmentally-friendly building products, the Green Team instituted a successful recycling program at the company's 11 retail outlets.

Stocking FSC-certified wood imposes strict conditions on the retailer, notes Snyder. The products have to be stored separately and, although the wood can be delivered anywhere, the money must change hands at Dunn Lumber's Wallingford location, so as to meet the certifier's exacting "chain of custody" requirements, which traces the product all the way from the forest to the retail purchaser.

But the important thing, says Geiger, is making sure that customers have the option of environmentally-sensitive wood choices at the retail level. "[Dunn has] committed to a six-month presence of these products on their shelves," he says. "It'll be there when people want it."

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Dunn Lumber's Wallingford store is located at Northeast Northlake Way and Latona Avenue Northeast; 632-2129.