The Refinishing Touch Blog

There are skills that you simply absorb along the way from your business. One of mine is to look at a piece of furniture and to understand some of its origination and history.

I’ve been doing this for a number of years, and just think about it almost subconsciously. After all, this is what The Refinishing Touch specializes in: we’ve treated and refinished tens of thousands of wood-based products and assets.

Last week while in DC, I was in a government official’s office talking about [the Administration and its commitment to green and sustainable projects], during which I remarked that the desk he was sitting behind had been manufactured in Asia. He seemed dumbstruck by this knowledge, as if I had some Sherlock-Holmes-style insight.

At that time it reminded me that as consumers we really don’t think enough about where things come from: yes, the desk you are sitting at now is probably wood, but have you considered where the tree grew? Who logged it? How did it travel to the manufacturer – and how far did it travel? And once it has passed what you may consider its useful lifespan, what will happen to it?

Whether you consume wood-based products for yourself, your families, a business, a learning institute or a government body, there’s no harm in stopping and asking ‘Where did it come from and how can I preserve its lifespan?’. In fact, quite the opposite. The more information that we know about the origins of something, the better informed decisions we can make. In the case of a wooden desk, if we know where it came from, we can find out whether the manufacturer places an emphasis on environmental sustainability or not, for instance. We can make choices that have a tremendous impact by taking the time to perform our due diligence, and in big and small ways make a greener world.

Labels: Environment, Sustainability, wood