As a maker of rustic wood furniture, we at Fireside Lodge Furniture Company rely on Mother Nature on everything we craft. With this in mind, we pay special attention to making decisions that are environmentally-responsible. Here are 5 ways that our products are sustainable:
We Use Every Piece of the Cedar Tree
Our Northern White Cedar, which we use in our Cedar Log Collection, is grown in groves near our production facility in Northern Minnesota. This allows us to control the source of the cedar meaning not only do we produce beautiful and long-lasting furniture that meets our standards, but we can also ensure practices where no piece of the tree goes to waste. For example, we use the tops of the trees in furniture, but any bark or smaller branches are used as landscape materials like mulch. Anything we can’t use in making furniture, lumber, or in landscapes like sawdust and other by-products are used to heat our production facility. With cedar being our flagship line, we take pride in this collection and used it as a template in expanding our vision on what furniture we can build that is sustainable and friendly to the environment.
Reclaimed Barnwood
There is nothing like the real thing, and this couldn’t be truer than with our Barnwood Collection which is made from 100% authentic reclaimed oak barnwood. Instead of replicating the look like some of our competitors, we instead source our barnwood from 1800s tobacco barns that are deconstructed and repurposed into wood furniture. Rather than being burned or tossed away in a landfill, we refine this beautiful wood and create pieces that can serve as heirlooms for decades to come.
Low VOC Stains
While nature does a great job like creating the patinas in
our Barnwood Collection and the beetle galleries, worm tracks, and knots make
our Cedar Log Collection perfectly rustic, we like to add a stain to enhance
the natural beauty even further and to satisfy our customers. We offer stains
that are low in VOC (volatile organic compounds) and are non-toxic. This makes
it perfect not only in looking great and helping protect furniture from drink
spills, it also leaves a smaller footprint compared to other stains.
Using Only CARB Compliant Plywood
Some woods used in furniture like plywood, particleboard, and fiberboard panels can contain formaldehyde, which is toxic, especially in the air. We use plywood that is compliant with the Composite Wood Products Airborne Toxic Control Measure instituted by CARB (California Air Resources Board). By being compliant with this measure, formaldehyde emissions from these wood types are reduced meaning that this air pollutant is a non-factor when producing our furniture.
Operating with Lean Manufacturing Standards
Our production facility is a lean, mean fighting machine! What do we mean by lean? We don’t over-rely on machines. For example, we peel the bark off our cedar logs by hand which not only preserves the beauty of the wood, but also serves as a type of quality control and uses no machines. For staining, we rely on spraying and hand application. This reduces the amount of stain used compared to dipping tanks which some companies use. One final example is technique. While some tools make assembling furniture more efficient with minimal tool use, we still use some of the established techniques developed long ago. We take pride in providing high-quality wood furniture while reducing waste and maintaining a high level of productivity.
We work today with the future in mind. Contact us to learn more and order furniture that celebrates and honors the Earth’s natural beauty.