RE: [GBlist] Sustainable Teak

["Dohlin, Jon" <jdohlin@wcs.org>]

Green Building List:

Will's question raises an issue that I'm not sure if anyone has come up with a solution for yet.  I'd really like to hear peoples experiences and opinions.

Leaving aside discussions for the time being of whether or not anything harvested and shipped  halfway around the world could be called "sustainable"-- has anyone satisfied themselves that, in a situation where there are radically different sources for a product (like teak), there is any reliable way to ascertain that the product sold to you by from an unseen supplier is indeed the one harvested from sustainably managed teak forests (and all that implies) as opposed to, say, clear-cutting the cambodian highlands?  I've seen so many instances of greenwash in labeling that I have a tremendous amount of hesitancy in trusting a label placed on something where there are so few checks on the supply.  

I generally wind up thinking, given the downsides of a mistake, I'd rather not use a product-- even if I think it would be perfect if it WERE sustainable-- than run the risk of creating an end market for something taken very destructively.

Any ideas?  Any trustworthy controls out there?

Jon Dohlin
Architectural Designer
Wildlife Conservation Society

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