HIGH POINT –For the past six years, the National Wildlife Federation and the Sustainable Furnishings Council have published the , a tool used to assess retail stores on their wood sourcing strategies and the types of wood used to make furniture they sell.
“The Wood Furniture Scorecard was designed to move the proverbial needle in an industry that has been a major contributor to illegal wood sourcing and deforestation,” SFC Executive Director Scarlette Tapp told Furniture Today. “The Scorecard is a tool that helps push the industry from the inside, as well as from the outside through consumer awareness. The furniture-buying public increasingly wants to know about the origins of their furniture.”
As in previous years, the assessment will use set criteria and the “scorecard methodology,” which involves looking at a store’s website for descriptions of policy, practices and performance, and “additional actions” related to wood sourcing.
This year, however, the “practices and performance” section will be expanded upon, particularly the goals publicly stated by retailers to improve their wood sourcing.
“Adopting a wood sourcing policy is the first step,” writes the Sustainable Furnishings Council. “Working with your vendors – the companies who make the wood furniture or supply the wood – in implementation of the policy is an ongoing second step. Setting public goals will hold everyone accountable and gives a company leverage and talking points for vendors.
“More points are available in this year’s scorecard if a company sets targets or goals on the amount of certified and/or reclaimed wood they aim to purchase, and in a follow-up criterion: if a company publicly reports on the targets. For example, a target would be ‘to achieve 75% responsibly sourced wood in our furniture products by 2030.’ Reporting on that target would be to say: We (company X) have reached 40% responsibly sourced wood in 2023″.
The SFC says the methodology doesn’t care about the actual percentages of a company’s stated goal; it’s instead focused purely on the element of transparency in public reporting.
“In addition, two points are available for companies who get third-party verification of their public reporting. We encourage this next step in reporting, though for some companies it can be cost prohibitive.”
Another change this year is a greater emphasis on visibility.
“The methodology has also been strengthened to bolster a company’s brand identity and website (sales) offerings,” the Council writes. “This year, the wood sourcing policy has to be found on the brand’s website (not a parent company or sister-brand), and if the company’s website has a search feature, it has to return results, or “visibly show” that a company sells furniture made out of reclaimed wood, (any) certified wood, and/or FSC Certified wood.
For more about the Wood Furniture Scorecard,