Sustainable Wood Furniture Cooperative Donating 15% of its Profits to Conservation Groups Until the Summer Solstice

VERNON, Vt.- In continuing honor of Earth Day and the forests that supply them with the wood for their craft, Vermont Woods Studios has launched its ‘15% For The Forest Initiative,’ which will run until the Summer Solstice on June 21.

Cherry moon bed. Photo courtesy of Vermont Woods Studios.

This is the first year that Vermont Woods is holding this particular initiative, though the company has been both volunteering for and donating to local conservation groups for many years, said Peggy Farabaugh, the company’s co-owner.

Among the organizations that will be donated to are the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas Project and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies.As part of this initiative, Vermont Woods will also donate 15 percent of a purchase price to any environmental charity of a customer’s choice.

Ms. Farabaugh spoke about the significance of the Atlas Project, saying, “Jim Andrews, who heads it up, has taken on the initiative of mapping Vermont with its reptiles and amphibians and he has enlisted ‘citizen scientist’ volunteers all across the state to go into the forests and take inventory of what is in there. So we have people all over the state contributing to this Atlas effort. He has made quite a lot of progress and the resulting Atlas can be use to prioritize funding for conservation in the forest.”

Similarly, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies follows its mission as an independent research group dedicated to the understanding and conservation of wildlife. The Center says, “Our findings inform scientists, policy makers, and members of the public about sound conservation goals and practices. Along the way, we involve more than 1,000 amateur ‘citizen scientists’ from five countries to help in our work.”

Further discussing ecology, Ms. Farabaugh described a sustainable forests as one that has a management plan. “There are professional foresters who go into the forests and take inventory of the plant life and indigenous animal species, and then write up a plan about how the forest should be managed, including logging, access, and wildlife management in order to preserve the characteristics of that forest going forward, keeping it sustainable.

“In Vermont, the foresters tell me that the forest is actually growing at a rate that is faster than it is being logged. We are one step beyond sustainable here.” Vermont Woods preference is to use local woods, saying “it’s a greener process. We don’t need to have it shipped to us.”

Ultra luxury green satin fainting counch. Photo courtesy of Vermont Woods Studios.

Vermont Woods produces highly customized, luxury furniture, along with five core style lines, which Ms. Farabaugh describes as follows:

Shaker beedroom set. Photo courtesy of Vermont Woods Studios.
• Shaker - It’s utilitarian, but we have added an elegant flare, so instead of just straight lines, we have made some subtle curves in the line.
Mission dining room set. Photo courtesy of Vermont Woods Studios.
• Mission - It’s all straight lines, but it has a heavier look to it than the Shaker. Sometimes there is characteristic Mission hardware that goes on certain pieces and customers can pick the types of hardware they want to use.
• Craftsman - It’s born out of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which started around the turn of the twentieth century. Its got sort of a Southwestern style, often with a reverse tapered leg, where the leg gets fatter at the bottom than at the top. It’s a signature of the style. It’s also thick like the mission. Some people say it has a masculine style.
• Modern - It’s influenced by the Danish style, where there are no knobs. It’s just all streamlined.
• Transitional - It’s uniquely a Vermont interpretation of Shaker, often with a little bit of Asian influence.

Reclaimed Barnwood Sink. Photo by Vermont Woods.

Vermont Woods collections also include pieces that are made from reclaimed wood. “We use old barn beams, doors, siding, floors, and windows. We re-mill it usually. It depends on what the customer wants, but usually it has to be sanded down. It’s amazing how well preserved this wood is after 100 to 200 years. Once you sand it down, it gets this really nice patina on it, and its just beautiful,” said Ms. Farabaugh

“All our standard styles are in our catalog, which is on the web” at vermontwoodsstudios.com, she added, further stating, “We have some pre-made furniture, but most of it is made to order and can be easily customized to fit into the customers’ space or to go with existing furntiture styles.”