Why we love wood
Wood is a natural product and sustainable timber is in abundant supply, and provides positive ecological, economic and aesthetic benefits.

• Local ecology  The woodland habitat provides protection and survival of local wildlife
• Local economies benefit from jobs and welfare
• Aesthetic benefits: natural beauty
• Ecological benefits trees consume CO₂ thereby reducing greenhouse gases

What type of wood do we use All our coffins are made from the materials standards and sources shown below.

A Few Facts About Wood
Why are some woods called hardwood and others softwood?
Hardwood is the wood that comes from a broad-leafed tree; softwood comes from conifers. Hence oak, birch and beech are hardwoods and spruce, Scots pine, all the firs and yew are softwoods. The classification has nothing to do with density or hardness.
Why is wood such an important material?
Wood is the ONLY renewable natural resource and with proper management it will never run out, unlike all other extracted or mined materials. In Europe, MORE trees are planted than felled every year

Wood from Europe Europe’s forests are governed by legislation which requires that harvested trees are replaced (at the very least). So the more trees are harvested, the more are planted. In practice sustainable forest management, combined with an annual harvest of only 65% of annual growth, means there is a huge surplus of European timber, with the forests growing by an area the size of Cyprus every year.

Wood from outside Europe There is a great deal of concern about this topic from an ecological point of view. There are a number of organizations who enable an environmentally aware approach to be adopted by users of non-European wood, one of the largest being the Forest Stewardship Council. (FSC)

The Forest Stewardship Council The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international network to promote responsible management of the world’s forests.

FSC brings people together to find solutions to the problems created by bad forestry practices and to reward good forest management.

It was recognized by the UN in September 2006 as being the fastest growing certification scheme in the world, as well as the world’s largest certification organization

The FSC maintains a web site for the international aspect of its activities
and there is a further web site relating to the UK section
 -you can look us up there on the database under “coffins”)

Wood Coffins for Burial and Cremation.

The process of burning wood is considered to be carbon neutral.
That means it does not contribute to global warming. This is because when wood is burnt the same amount of Carbon Dioxide (C02) is emitted as was originally absorbed when it was growing as a tree. Therefore there is no net increase in C02 emitted to the atmosphere.

Wood has no sulphur content therefore no sulphur dioxide or acid rain associated with the burning of fossil fuels.

Fossil fuels (Coal and Oil) made from Wood compressed and heated millions of years ago releases into the atmosphere today all the concentrated CO2 which was absorbed all that time ago. 

Wood Coffins for Burial

Wood, whether burnt or decaying gives of the same level of C02. 

Types of Wood

The species and type of wood is not important in terms of CO2 Emission, however it is very important wood is from a sustainable source to ensure the carbon cycle remains intact. This is why we only use wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council FSC for our veneer and wood effect coffins.

Our solid coffins are made from Oak and Utile.

The Oak and Utile are imported from America and the West Indies, we have been assured from our suppliers these are from sustainable sources, however they do not have F.S.C. accreditation and therefore lack the independent assurance. This is another reason why by planting a tree a goes a long way to ensure we are are been pro active about our environmental responsibilities.   

What is Chipboard?

Chipboard is wood chips pressed with glue and heated to make a usable wood panel.This is then covered with a veneer of printed wood effect paper or real wood.

Although there is a negative with regard this industrial process, it is widely acknowledged this is offset because chipboard uses wood which would otherwise be wasted. All our chipboard is F.S.C. certified, this ensures it is made with a mixture of virgin wood from a sustainable source and has a content typically 40 to 50% of recycled waste wood.