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Home
Depot’s Wood Purchasing Pledge “Our pledge to
our customers, associates, and stockholders is that Home Depot will
stop selling wood products from environmentally sensitive areas,”
the world’s largest home improvement retailer announced on August
26. “By the end of
2002, we will eliminate from our stores wood from endangered
areas—including certain lauan, redwood, and cedar products—and
give preference to ‘certified’ wood.”
Further clarification indicates that “old growth” wood is
to be eliminated from the retailer’s stock. Various
observers interpret this commitment differently; the “preference”
for “certified” wood does not seem to mean exclusive reliance on a
chain-of-custody guarantee from suppliers but calls for implementing a
set of procurement guidelines in consultation with certain groups with
opinions about what and where forest-friendly wood is.
Nor does the policy, on the face of it, discount the American
Forest & Paper Association’s Sustainable Forestry Initiative(sm)
as a guarantor of acceptable sourcing. “Our company sells less than 10% of the lumber in the world,” states Home Depot President Arthur Blank. That’s still enough to make further clarification of this new policy of great interest to the industry. Back to "News" Forest Resources Association
Inc. (FRA) |
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