workshop rules
Eco-certification requires safeguards and "rules" known as chain of custody (COC). COC procedures create a paper trail from the forest to the end-consumer, ensuring that certified wood materials are kept separate from non-certified. Manufacturers may wonder if the bureaucratic procedures are worth the effort to offer furniture made from responsibly harvested timber.
Business partners Grant Wyllychuk and Dave Soothill of Vancouver's Ornamentum Furniture believe that accreditation makes sense both economically and enviromentally in the furniture manufacturing business. The cost of COC certification for a small operation is less than $2,000 and subsidies are available where warranted. Wyllychuk told VCR that for their company the additional cost of eco-certified wood and COC record-keeping amounts to four or five per cent of their wholesale cost and believes this will soon decrease as the volume of eco-certified wood increases.
To maintain their COC accreditation Ornamentum Furniture is required to store their raw materials in distinct racks and make entries in a journal similar to double-entry bookkeeping. Each purchase order for certified wood is entered in the first column under "ordered material" and recorded in the "certified inputs" column on delivery to the workshop. As the wood is used, the approriate volume is debited and credited to the various columns (including one for "waste"), ending with a "final products sold" column.
This tracking can be done manually or with a software program. Wyllychuk says it takes only a few minutes of his day and provides valuable information about their timber usage which enables them to increase workshop efficiency and also obtain accurate data for billing purposes.
A First for BC
Ornamentum Furniture expects to be the first manufacturer in BC to produce furniture locally using timber harvested from a BC forest certified by the internationally recognized Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) through Silva Forest Foundation (SFF).
Ornamentum Furniture already uses timber from Rod Blake's woodlot near 100 Mile House, BC, which was awarded SFF eco-certification in March 1999. This means that when SFF is granted certification from FSC, all Blake's timber will automatically become FSC certified at that time.
When the woodlot is certified, Ornamentum Furniture will acquire full certification as they were granted chain-of-custody accreditation in January 2000 through SFF/FSC. Ornamentum Furniture will then be allowed to display the coveted FSC logo on products made from Blake's timber. |
Chain of custody for the above Ornamentum Furniture Douglas-fir table top
Lumber
Rod Blake's woodlot (see below)
Conversion
Spokin Mountain Timber
Kilning
Zirnhelt Brothers
Manufacture
Ornamentum Furniture
Delivery
to retailer or customer
Rod Blake
Situated east of 150 Mile House in BC's Cariboo region, Rod Blake's woodlot was awarded Silva Forest Foundation (SFF) eco-certification on March 11, 1999.
In May 1998, SFF applied for accreditation with the internationally recognized Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). When Silva is accredited by FSC Rob Blake's timber will automatically carry the FSC label.
More information about eco-certification is available from:
+ Silva Forest Foundation.
+ Certified Forest Products Council (CFPC) (a database of North American certified forests and chain-of-custody companies).
+ Fall 1999 issue of VCR.
Contact Ornamentum Furniture on the Web or telephone 604.215.7444.
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