84 Lumber Co. to Phase Out Endangered Wood
84 Lumber Company, the nation's fourth-largest supplier of building materials, said Thursday it will phase out sales of products from endangered forests by the end of 2003. Read More
a href =”http://www.greenbiz.com/frame/1.cfm?targetsite=http://www.hoovers.com/c…“>84 Lumber Company, the nation’s fourth-largest supplier of building materials, said Thursday it will phase out sales of products from endangered forests by the end of 2003.
“84 Lumber will continue its commitment of practicing sound environmental wood procurement policies by phasing out sales of wood from endangered forests during the next three years while continuing to promote the sale of alternative products,” said Maggie Hardy Magerko, 84 Lumber Company president.
“We strongly believe that practicing sound forest management is the responsibility of producers, distributors and ultimately consumers. While we currently purchase a vast majority of our wood products from the most responsible producers in North America and around the world, we are increasing our environmental preservation efforts immediately to ensure that our suppliers practice responsible forestry.”
84 Lumber is conducting an extensive evaluation of its purchasing policies and procedures, with the intention of implementing environmental policies that eliminate the sale of wood that is harvested from endangered forests.
Most of 84’s wood supply does not come from endangered areas, the company said. 84 Lumber plans to work with its suppliers to implement independent, third party certification systems to ensure the products sold in 84’s stores come from well managed forests.
“Many of our suppliers have already implemented independent certification systems, and we will strongly encourage those who haven’t to join this collaborative effort as we build environmental partnerships that benefit everyone,” said Magerko.
With this move, 84 Lumber, which has more than 400 stores in 30 states, follows the lead of the top two home-improvement giants, Home Depot and Lowe’s. The announcement came two days before protests were to have been staged at 84 Lumber stores by the Rainforest Action Network.
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